Am I Stronger?
by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10
Summary: "Apart from improving your skill level, I'm doing this so that you can go after Sasuke before Naruto returns, and be strong enough to bring him back yourself. Naruto already has enough on his hands as it is – Now I don't can't about what promises he's been making to you about bringing Sasuke back himself –The Akatsuki are onto him and he merely needs to focus on just staying safe."
1. Prologue

**Am I Stronger?**

**Summary: **Tsunade turned to Sakura with a hard expression. "Apart from improving your skill level, I'm doing this so that you can go after Sasuke before Naruto returns, and be strong enough to bring him back yourself. Naruto already has enough on his hands as it is – Now I don't can't about what promises he's been making to you about bringing Sasuke back himself – The Akatsuki are on to him and he merely needs to focus on just staying safe." Set during time-skip

**A/N: **Most of this Prologue will be written through Shikamaru/Ino's P.O.V. and a bit at the start through Sasuke's. Don't let that unnerve you, this isn't the first chapter and Shikamaru/Ino won't be the main characters – although it's likely that I'll use them in future chapters. If you can, review, but lack of reviews will NOT stop me from finishing this story! I AM GOING TO SEE IT THROUGH TO THE END, NO MATTER WHAT! AND IF I DON'T, THEN DAMN IT ALL! ^^ :D

This isn't Canon. And since this is set during the time-skip, Sakura will start off as weak, and build from there. Gotta have character development! Oh, and this isn't a romance story, it's an adventure story. ^^ :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Prologue

Witten by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Sasuke was at Orochimaru's lair, training. He was by the waterfalls practicing Chidori over and over again – he'd already done several now, and considering that six was his limit, it was good progress.

Nevertheless, that didn't keep him from buckling over onto his knees, panting and panting, sweat rolling down the side of his face.

He felt like he was on fire, but – _It's not enough! I need to be stronger…_

Sasuke forced himself on to his feet again, this time walking towards the waterfall so that he could wash.

He was relieved when the icy cold water rolled down his skin, sending ripples of shudders down his spine. He splashed his face with water one more time, then got dressed and returned to his training, this time testing out his kunai-throwing skills on targets.

He was close to mimicking Itachi's complex technique, nailing down all his blind spots and hitting every target.

After throwing his last kunai, Sasuke saw that the moon was now rising, signalling his end of training. Tomorrow he would be aiming to do twice as many Chidori, and if he was lucky, he would be aiming to surpass Itachi's technique somehow.

Tomorrow would be another new day, and although Sasuke didn't like waiting, he was just going to have to in order to reach his full potential and get stronger.

Sheathing his katana and turning away, Sasuke didn't even notice the little owl that had been perched on the tree above him, watching him the whole time.

* * *

Ino/Shikamaru's P.O.V.

Ino opened her eyes and let out a loud _whoop! _

"I've found him. _I've found Sasuke!_"

Shikamaru let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ino, are you saw that you weren't just imagining it?" Shikamaru said sceptically. "… I mean, you were using Mind-Transfer jutsu for hours, it's probably taken a tow on you… and it's just that it seems unlikel– "

Ino cut him off. "I can show you if you want – Sasuke couldn't have gotten far, there's still time – _come on!_"

Before he could protest, Ino was already snaking a hand around his wrist and pulling him after her.

They moved around in the darkness for a few minutes, Shikamaru staggering behind Ino before she came to a sudden halt.

"I… I thought it was somewhere around here that I saw him?"

"What, tangled up in this thorn bush?" Shikamaru said in irritation, and winced painfully amongst the thorns. He didn't even need to look at Ino to know that she was in the same condition as him.

He sighed. "C'mon, let's go back. Even if you did see Sasuke, there would be nothing that _we _could do until the Hokage was aware of it, Ino."

Ino kicked something – and to Shikamaru's dismay, it turned out to be his ankle – completely unaware of how much pain she was inflicting upon him of late.

They made their way back to Konoha – it would be a whole day's journey, so hopefully they'd be back the next day by mid-afternoon, that is, if Ino could stop spotting Sasukes everywhere they went.

"…I suppose your right – my mother must be worried that we're so late in returning from this mission – but _seriously_, you should have seen his abs."

Shikamaru was used to this sort of banter from Ino, and tuned out her voice as he continued to move, up until something in particular that she said made him start.

"Wait – what?" Shikamaru spluttered, giving Ino an incredulous sideways glance.

"You heard me. I said I saw Sasuke naked by the waterfall. Hey, don't give me that face! I used to spy on him all the time when we were genin – it's not the first time I've seen him with no clothes on!"

Shikamaru shook his head, peering at the sliver of light casting down on them. It was now dawn time. Only a few hours to go.

"… ah well at least I came out of this mission with benefits – although, would've been better to see him in person instead of from the side lines... ya know what I mean? To get a _closer look,_" Ino giggled girlishly, leaving Shikamaru looking quite flustered.

A few more hours of jumping, and they'd finally reached the village gates, albeit looking very battered thanks to the uneventful thorn bush.

"Hey, you two OK?" Asked one of the gate guards, eyeing their thorn cuts. "… 'cause ya both look _terrible_. Tea shinobi giving you a hard time, are they?"

Ino shrugged off the comments rather easily, muttering something like, "So what, at least I'm wearing my makeup!"

Villagers eyed them curiously, and Shikamaru was sure that he'd heard one of the children who'd pointed at them, say something like, "… Oooo they must'a gotten ina _real_ scrap. See that one with 'ineapple hair? Yeah, he looks like he got his ass kicked real bad!"

Shikamaru tried to shake off the comments as easily as Ino was managing to – and why she could do it so easily, Shikamaru didn't know – because he on the other hand, _he_ could only relax when Ino asked him to stop by for ramen.

"I'm _starrrrrrrrving_!" Ino complained as she half-led, half-dragged Shikamaru, and he had a vague idea of just _who_ would end up paying the bill for them.

When they got inside, when Shikamaru thought he could finally have a break from all the stress and whispered comments about them –

"OI! Over here! HOLY COW! What the heck happened to you two? Did you two get attacked by a cat or something?"

And of course, Konohamaru had to shout it out so loud that Shikamaru could've sworn the whole village had gone quiet, as if listening in on them hopefully.

Ino waved her arm dismissively. "Oh, it was nothing, Konohamaru. Nothing, really…"

Despite the fact that Ino wasn't being very convincing, Konohamaru didn't seem suspicious at all and just shrugged, finally going back to eating his noodles.

They ate their food together, all the while Ino tried to talk to Shikamaru about the mission they'd in a hushed tone, describing certain… '_things_'to him in more detail.

He quickly lost his appetite.

Once they'd finished their ramen, they left and paid and headed to the Hokage to tower. For some reason Ino exploded, telling Shikamaru off for some reason, complaining that he shouldn't have bought her ramen in the first place, that she was on a diet and he'd spoilt it somehow.

_Women…_

Shikamaru tried his best to stay calm and not just Shadow Possession jutsu her and walk away.

They reached the Hokage tower and entered the office. The Hokage was sitting at her desk, sorting through a number of documents.

"Hokage-sama!" Ino said politely and bowed.

"Yeah, 'Kage-sama," Said Shikamaru after Ino, lazily inclining his head. "We've just completed the B-Rank mission on escorting the Tea village princess to the Tsuki festival – it was a success."

The Hokage didn't even look up at them, and simply grunted, "Good work – go, then."

Ino jumped forward. "H-Hold on – wait!"

The Hokage didn't look up but raised an eyebrow. "What? Was there a problem?"

Ino shook her head quickly. "No, no! But I – I saw… I saw Uchiha Sasuke!"

The Hokage's head immediately snapped up, but this time she was addressing Shikamaru. "Is this true, Nara?"

Shikamaru was slightly taken aback, and spluttered indignantly. "How should I know? It was _Ino _who said she saw him! Not me…"

"Well," Said Tsunade, flicking away a stray document, then getting up from her desk to look at the village.

"… I want you to tell me every detail of what happened, Ino. Don't leave _anything_ out," Continued Tsunade, not seeing the worried glance Ino was exchanging with Shikamaru. She couldn't tell her '_that_' now, could she?

"Go on, I don't have all day Yamanaka. Can't you remember?"

Ino bit her lip. "OK, I'll tell you everything."

And so Ino did. She told Tsunade about how they'd just finished their mission and how Ino had decided to secure where they were one last time, and swapped minds with a passing owl, unknowing where it was going to land, and what it was going to show her…

After that the Hokage thanked them, and had called in three Anbus. The Anbus had appeared out of thin air and immediately, Tsunade barked out orders so fast that Shikamaru couldn't hear a word she'd said.

The Anbu, however, they heard her perfectly fine because they were already bowing and disappearing in poofs of smoke.

"Well done, Ino, Shikamaru. With this information, we may be able to sniff out that snake's location, and better yet, Sasuke." Tsunade finished, her voice laced with great distaste.

"… you may both leave. You've earned yourselves a week free of missions. It's time to put that Sakura to work now, I think. The Anbu are already off to explain her new mission to her at this moment."

Then, Tsunade added, "And I have a feeling that she'll like it, too."

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**A/N: **How was that? Next chapter will be in the main P.O.V. which is basically Sakura's P.O.V.

Any suggestions? Constructed critism? ^^ :D


	2. Mission

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter One: Is this a joke?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Outside the lair, the sun was shining high and bright and although Sasuke couldn't stand it inside and would much rather be out by the waterfall, he was this time standing in a spare, dimply lit chamber, which was empty apart from the army of target dummies facing him.

Instead of pulling out some kunais to take them down, Sasuke summoned his Chidori.

This particular Chidori was his more developed version, and he'd been working on it aside from widening his limit with the number of normal Chidori that he could do in a day.

This one could assume any shape or form, all he needed was good chakra manipulation. And thanks to all the training he'd put himself through, Sasuke could successfully turn his Chidori into any shape he wanted.

Without blinking, he raised his arm, and sparks of lightening began to issue. Then he thrust his hand forward and a rope of lightening shot out, hitting targets, zigzagging to take out the ones it had missed, soaring up and down.

Then Sasuke lowered his hand and it extinguished completely, leaving him with a room filled with the smell of burnt straw, and the floor charred with piles of ash.

As Sasuke turned away, the door to the chamber creaked open, and Kabuto walked in.

He raised an eyebrow. "What have we got here? You do realise that cash for those expensive dummies don't come out of thin air, don't you Sasuke?"

Sasuke scoffed. "With all the experiments you do with Orochimaru, I would've thought that not getting caught was your top priority. Not fussing about the prices of some dummies that you can come by anytime… "

"_Lord _Orochimaru, now Sasuke. And actually, we _have_ been found. By none other than a Leaf ninja." Said Kabuto, smirking. "So we're moving base. That's why I've come here, actually."

Sasuke didn't blink, or say anything. He just growled in agitation. Moving to a new base meant traveling, and traveling meant wasting time, and wasting time meant a halt in his training.

XXX

When the Anbu came knocking at Sakura's door, first saying some nonsense about an owl, and then Ino, her first impression was that it was some sort of joke. Then when they started explaining a mission to her, she decided that it was going too far.

"Hold on, stop right there. Is that _you_ Naruto, behind the mask? Because if it is—"

The Anbu officer coughed indignantly. "Miss Haruno, I assure you that my identity is not that of the jinjuriki's. I am here by orders of the Hokage to explain your mission to you. She is currently… busy."

Sakura was taken off guard, but quickly recomposed herself and put on a serious face.

"My apologies. You said it was important? What's the mission?"

Sakura mentally scorned herself for thinking that it had been Naruto, as she half listened to what the Anbu was saying.

_Naruto is training with Jiraiya, silly! He's so far away that you can't even pick up his chakra signature anymore…_

Sakura's thoughts were immediately thrown aside, when the Anbu said something in particular that pricked her attention.

"Wait – what? I don't think I heard you right – sorry, I wasn't really listening. Pardon me if I get this wrong, but did you just say that Ino saw_ Uchiha Sasuke_?"

Even though she'd convinced herself that the Anbu officer was being genuine, that this wasn't a joke, she couldn't help but wonder if he was making any of this up, as a way of revenge from her for thinking that he had been Naruto.

"It's… It's just that Ino couldn't have really seen _Sasuke_, I bet she was just imagining it!"

Sakura peered at the Anbu closely. If he gave _any_ signs that he was lying, even the slightest flicker… she was going to pound him into oblivion. This wasn't something that _anyone_ should joke about freely.

As Sakura watched him, something that Tsunade had once told her came flowing through her mind: There were a number of ways to know if someone was lying. One, was if they couldn't look you directly in the eye –

_Not so easy spotting that flaw when he's got a mask on though… And funny I should say that…_

But there was another way that she could find out: If he answers back too quickly, almost immediately…

" – How dare you question me, or the Hokage's information!"

Sakura forced an apologetic smile, and said through clenched teeth; "Sorry, Anbu officer!"

Sakura didn't see too kindly to the policy of having to show respect and extreme politeness to Anbu officers – especially the troublesome ones – but bit down her pride, knowing that there was no point in wasting her breath.

_… And finally, if his breathing has quickened – a liar tends to breathe faster…_

The Anbu was literally huffing and puffing in furry. "Yeah, well you better make sure that you don't do it again – it'll get you in more trouble one day girl!"

Sakura looked down, feigning a look ashamedness. Anbu, especially the touchy ones can be a bother.

"Could you explain it to me again – _please?_"

_So far everything is pointing towards him lying… _Sakura thought, frowning. _But there has to be another way that I can tell if he's _**definitely**_ lying… unfortunately a lot of this relies on facial expressions…_

Sakura was already preparing herself to wrench that so-called mask off of his face. She was so sure that he was an imposter.

But then she remembered that there was another way that she could find out if he was telling the truth.

"OK, thank you for your help. I'll be there… ready and waiting. The mission will start tomorrow morning, will it?"

The Anbu nodded, and left in the flick of his wrist.

_The way that I'm going to find out if he is lying or not, is by turning up for this so-called mission in person, and finding out for myself..._

XXX

The next morning as she combed through her hair, Sakura thought over what the Anbu had said.

_So let me get this straight… Ino and Shikamaru were returning from a mission when Ino used her Mind-Transfer jutsu on a nearby owl, which took her to Orochimaru's lair, allowing her to catch a glimpse of Sasuke?_

Sakura shook her head. It sounded so ludicrous – not to mention that she had given up hope on him a long time ago. She was more mature now and knew better than to get her hopes up.

_Probably just a big joke or something… I think. Well, I'll find out soon enough!_

Sakura was done. She left the house and travelled over the rooftops, scaring away birds as she went by, letting the wind pull its fingers through her hair, stroking her face…

When Sakura got to the Hokage office and entered, she found herself facing the Anbu officer from the previous day, along with two others – though they seemed more spontaneous than him.

Tsunade had just finished saying something to them when she turned to Sakura, who bowed in respect.

"I was told to report to your office for the… mission, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded briskly. "Good you're here, and early. So I trust that one of the Anbu here have already explained to you that Uchiha Sasuke was sighted recently?"

Sakura flinched at hearing Tsunade say his name so distastefully, and forced herself to answer. "Yes, I was told. Is it true then Tsunade-sama? – I mean, do you honestly believe Ino? Couldn't she have just been imagining it? Not that I'm saying it isn't possible – But… but it just _can't _be, can it?"

"Don't blabber Sakura." Said Tsunade sharply, almost sternly; "The Yamanaka clan are a highly looked up to clan, and regardless of the fact that you know Ino well, it would be an insult to say something like that to a member of said clan. _Any _clan by no means." Added Tsunade darkly, "… Try saying something like that to the Hyuuga, for instance…"

Sakura mentally pictured herself doing such a thing and shuddered. "You needn't say anymore, Hokage-sama. But… does Naruto know of this? That Sasuke's been sighted? And, I mean, what are you going to _do _about it? What can _I _do?"

Sakura said the last part quietly. _Yes Sakura… just what _**can **_you do? You're still so weak… and remember that night Sasuke left, when you tried to make him sta – _

"Just – Just shut up already!" Sakura yelled, not realising that she'd said those words aloud, instead of thinking them.

"Oh – I'm sorry! I just… just got a bit carried away!"

Sakura looked down at her feet, this time feeling truly ashamed. It wasn't Tsunade's fault that she was so weak, so why was she yelling at her? By no means Tsunade was doing her best to make her stronger, by taking her in as an apprentice!

Sakura was surprised when Tsunade continued on, acting as if she hadn't heard a word of Sakura's embarrassing outburst.

"… So, Sakura. This will be your new long-term mission: I'm going to put you on a special training regime. Your chakra control is already up to scratch – the only think that needs working on is your stamina, defence, and offense. As I've seen, you've got potential in that strength of yours, and lucky for you, you have a teacher with that speciality. I think it will be necessary to put your medical ninja training aside for a while, so that we can work on your weak areas. Understood?"

Sakura nodded immediately. "Thank you, Hokage-sama – I am honoured. But… what is all this training _for_?"

"Apart from improving your skill level, I'm doing this so that you can go after Sasuke before Naruto returns, and be strong enough to bring him back yourself. Naruto already has enough on his hands as it is – Now I don't can't about what promises he's been making to you about bringing Sasuke back himself – The Akatsuki are onto him and he merely needs to focus on just staying safe."

Then, she added in a small grumble, "… I can't believe that Shizune convinced me into this… but it's for the best."

She looked up at Sakura, her expression harder. "You are my star pupil, you have potential. Remember what you said to me when you first begged me to teach you? You said that you wanted me to make you stronger. And that is what I am going to do."

Sakura was taken aback. She _did _want to be stronger, but… but she'd never – _never_ be strong enough to beat Sasuke, or bring him back.

Could she?

"Now listen Sakura, I can train you and tell you everything I know, but it won't make a difference _unless you believe_."

Tsunade sighed. "I'm not asking you to track him down to the ends of the earth, or confront him head on and beat him, or anything like that. In fact, all that _you_ have to do, is very simple."

Tsunade continued. "As I train you, these three Anbu in my office will be using Yamanaka Ino's lead, and trying to locate Orochimaru's hideout for themselves. They may find that Orochimaru has already left and moved on to another hideout, but that won't matter. Their mission, is just to track them down, and pin-point his location. Once they've done that, you move in. They'll cover you as you sneak in, and get some poison – or a sleeping elixir – into Sasuke's possession. He'll be knocked out in seconds, and then you can teleport him back for custody."

It sounded so easy, and as Sakura quickly agreed, thinking of how bright Naruto's face would be when he came back to the Leaf village and saw that Sakura had brought Sasuke back, she never thought once about all the possibilities – all the things that could just go _wrong _with this mission.

But that didn't matter to her now. What mattered now was preparing herself for the horrors of what Tsunade was about to put her through…

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**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews and constructed critism! ^^ :D


	3. Will of Fire

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Two: The Will of Fire?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Kabuto turned out to be telling the truth. By nightfall Orochimaru had made them move from their original hideout, to the new one – but luckily Sasuke had gotten in a fair amount of training before they departed.

The sky was an abyss of darkness, the moon hovering over them hauntingly. An owl hooted, a snake hissed.

"Sasuke… I must test your strength very soon. The time is approaching." Said Orochimaru hungrily, watching Sasuke very closely as they moved.

"Hn, whatever. Which base are we going to now?"

Orochimaru didn't say anything, leaving it for Kabuto to fill in. "That, Sasuke, – is a _secret_," He said with a smirk, "… you'll find out soon enough."

As they continued walking to their destination in silence, as the wind picked up and did tricks to Sasuke's dark hair, that's when it hit him.

He knew what he was going to do to surpass Itachi's technique. Instead of hitting all the hidden targets with kunais, he'd hit them with his developed Chidori lightening.

XXX

The training regime was hard core. Tsunade was merciless – brutal.

Sakura collapsed onto the ground face first, a curtain of her hair messily blocking her face.

_I seriously need to cut this – especially when I'm doing training again!_

Sakura forced her legs to move so that she could stand up, but it was no use. She was at her limit, however disappointing it made her feel. _What_ had she been doing her entire shinobi career? Now it seemed like all those hours spent training when Team 7 had been a team, were nothing.

Just gone like the wind.

"I'm… at my limit." Murmured Sakura quietly, too ashamed to look up into her master's eyes. Did Tsunade see her as a pathetic failure too?

"Sakura – get up. Now."

She did as she was told, albeit moaning and groaning in pain.

"You'll never reach your full potential if you continue like this," Said Tsunade sternly, hands on hips. _… I won't ever go easy on you, Sakura. And if you don't respond to my attacks the way I need you to, then you can kiss your career as a ninja goodbye._

As if reading the Hokage's mind, Sakura suddenly bust out, "But I don't want to… stop being a ninja! All I need is something to drive me – to inspire me – to keep me going. Like a role model…"

Sakura looked down. _Am I really this bad? So bad that I shouldn't have even passed my genin exams? But I have a fairly good grasp on chakra control! Oh, and that's it, then? That's the only thing that's kept me clinging onto my shinobi career? Maybe it's just because _**Tsunade** _is my opponent – she is the Hokage after all… it's not exactly easy! Ah, but what excuse is that?_

"A role model, you say?" Said Tsunade finally, balancing the word out on her tongue. " – What of Naruto, then? Actually, he seems like the perfect role model for you, Sakura."

Memories of the goofy blonde came flooding through her mind immediately. The way he never gave up… always continuing to push himself – even when it was hopeless. He just never gave in to his weaknesses.

_Naruto… I wish you were really here, back in the Leaf…_

Sakura bit her lip. What was she thinking? Naruto wouldn't be back for another couple of months! Was she missing him already?

"SAKURA! I will not tolerate daydreaming during training – snap out of it!" Ranted Tsunade angrily, "… leaving yourself open like that! What if I'd decided to choose then to attack you? You'd be dead in less than minutes!"

Sakura flinched, and nodded apologetically, narrowing her eyes in concentration as she readied herself for Tsunade's next instalment, all the while keeping a mental image of Naruto's determined face in her mind.

_Naruto… I can't believe I'm doing this, but you will be my drive from now on! You'll be my inspiration – my role-model! I'm going to follow in your footsteps, baka! It's the only way that I may have a chance of getting through this training – if only you knew!_

For a moment Sakura considered Sasuke; he had been just as determined as Naruto at times, with his goal to kill Itachi… and he too was _such_ a talented ninja...

Without realising it, Sakura had ventured into all the things she _had_ _admired_ abut Sasuke. (**A/N: **The keywords being 'had' and '_admired'_.)

Immediately she shook all those thoughts away, with violent force.

_…It would be a betrayal to the Leaf village to think of Sasuke as anything more than a criminal, who left the village knowing full well what he was doing… hurting the feelings of everyone he left in the process!_

Sakura suddenly broke out of these thoughts, when she realised that Tsunade had disappeared! But she hadn't taken her eyes off of her the whole time! How had she escaped Sakura's line of vision – surely she would have noticed!

Then, that was when it all went wrong.

Sakura distinctively felt the rushing sensation of a disturbance in the air around her. And that was when she turned around, just in time to see the kunai headed straight for her, and she moved out of the way. Pushing all her body forward in a mad dive for the safety of the ground, Sakura didn't notice that the ground wasn't such a safe place after all.

Without thinking, she rolled over to her left, just in time to dodge the fist that came pummelling up, and out of the ground where her head had been moments ago.

Then acting upon instincts, Sakura flung out a kunai, not really expecting it to hit her opponent – when it did!

But her triumph was short lived; the Tsunade that had jumped out of the ground had just disappeared in a poof of smoke.

_… Damn! It had been a clone all along! _

Sakura was on full alert now, another kunai in hand and scanning the battlegrounds around her: Left, Right, Forwards, Backwards, Down –

– Up! That's where she was!

BOOM!

All that Sakura remembered was catching a glimpse of Tsunade, a silhouette against the sun, as she came hammering down on her.

The kick connected to her stomach, and that was all it took to knock Sakura out.

XXXX

Sakura opened her eyes to find that she was still in the training grounds, lying flat on her stomach, inside her own crater.

It took her eyes a few blinks to focus on the pair of feet right in front of her face, and she looked up. It was Tsunade. Had she stayed here to rub it in her face – how bad her performance had been?

_… It had taken Tsunade what? Five minutes to finish me off! _Thought Sakura dully, disappointed that she that she hadn't put up much of a fight.

She puffed out a few strands of hair from her face, and that was when Tsunade spoke up;

"I've just finished healing your injuries – We have a lot to work on, Sakura."

Tsunade sighed, and closed her eyes; "Get some rest and refill your chakra reserves. We'll work on this again tomorrow – Same time. We may even breach onto genjutsu."

Sakura nodded, feeling somewhat defeated inside. But then Naruto's determined face popped up inside her mind and she shook her head.

It was not the end of the world, and she would have to see to that soon.

_… I still have time to improve! Time – that's all I need!_

XXXX

Sakura felt more positive the next day. They finished off the spar that they'd had to stop early the previous day – and yes, it had as bad as it had been before – but at least Sakura managed to stay conscious long enough for them to continue the rest of the day's training this time.

"Defence. You're weak in defence, Sakura."

They were now going to begin genjutsu, which Sakura was more comfortable with. It was one of her strong points, after all.

Tsunade started off by performing five weak genjutsus on her. The first one had been in complete darkness, and Sakura could see nothing at all. It made her feel tired, as if its purpose was to try and make her fall asleep.

For a moment she had nearly given in – her eyelids were slipping and her legs were wobbling faintly underneath her, but then –

–_NO! Sakura, you can't! I know it's so cosy here right now – you could just close your eyes, and slip away into the darkness… but… but... bbbbbbbutt... ARGH – WAKE UP! _**NOW!**

Sakura's eyes snapped open again. She hesitated, then did the hand signs that would allow her to dispel the genjutsu; "Kai!"

It was a mental battle, genjutsu. But lucky for Sakura, she had Inner Sakura to protect her and repel most of the harm that it could do. She was safe so long as she kept her wits about her, and in any real case scenario, she'd have at least one teammate beside her.

If it got too powerful, then they could disrupt the flow of her own chakra by injecting some of their own chakra into her system.

The darkness disappeared. Her tiredness quivered.

The second genjutsu illusion that Tsunade did, was an unusual one. It made the tree to Sakura's right take on the form of a giant explosive tag. Sakura peered at it excruciatingly.

_… Hmm – Nothing too hard. I know it's not really a big explosive tag. It's just a tree._

But as Sakura began to make the hand signs to dispel it, she realised something. _Oh… NO!_

She only had five seconds to get as far away as possible – but it was useless. There was no point in running.

_… You're just going to have to do Substitution jutsu, Sakura!_

And so she did.

BOOM!

Sakura watched her substitution got blown to pieces, then the shards of the log that she'd used as the substitution shot out everywhere; One of the shards grazed her right arm and it started bleeding.

Sakura winced in pain.

The Substitution jutsu had teleported her to safety, just in time before the explosion, and onto a high tree branch. Getting a minor scratch was nothing. A second later and she would have been a goner.

Sakura took a few moments to recover, before thinking over what had happened.

_I get the picture now… Tsunade must have launched into the third genjutsu while I was still in the second one! Making me think that I was looking at a tree that had transformed into a giant explosive tag, when all along it had just been a tree covered with mini explosives. I had better keep my guard up from now on…_

Tsunade performed the fourth genjutsu when Sakura jumped down from the safety of her tree, and into the centre of the training rounds.

A pool of water began to form at her feet, and Sakura found herself falling through the water, slipping through its surface and getting completely engulfed inside it. Except she wasn't underwater.

She was standing in the middle of what looked like a field on a sunny day.

Sakura turned around, and to her alarm she saw herself – it was a close mirror image, except the Sakura that she was looking at was her seven-year-old self – crying in the middle of the field, while a group of other kids closed in on her, pulling at her hair, calling her names, poking her forehead.

The genjutsu was replaying her past to her, and in the prospective that she was actually there, witnessing it with her own eyes.

But why?

Sakura peered around closer. The scene had now changed. She was looking down at the Leaf village from the sky, and it was in complete chaos. Trees lying limply on the ground – ripped from their roots; Remains of buildings scattered everywhere, completely collapsed; Bodies of half-distinguishable civilians, and the shadows of shinobi flickering around amongst all the chaos.

Sakura shuddered as screams of terror from the villagers reached her ears, and then the echoing roars of the Nine-Tailed fox punctured loudest against all other noise.

This was mass destruction.

Just when Sakura thought she'd had enough of seeing so much death, just seeing the demon fox take away so many lives so brutally and so mercilessly, just when she thought that it was time she dispelled the genjutsu already – something made her freeze.

_No… it can't be._

The genjutsu had changed again.

Sakura was standing in the Leaf village again, but this time it was on a peaceful night, still and silent and dark. That was when she noticed the two figures, standing in the middle of the night…

It was her…

… and Sasuke. It was the night that he'd left, when she'd tried to stop him.

Sakura stood in silence and watched from the shadows as her twelve-year old self tried to convince Sasuke to stay. Sakura couldn't bear to look on.

_Don't let this get to you – you're over it, Sakura! _Roared Inner from somewhere deep inside her thoughts. That's when Sakura's eyes widened, and Inner's words echoed inside her mind.

She knew what she had to do.

Sakura forced herself to stop watching. She was now sieving through her thoughts, trying to come up with a good strategy to get out of this. _Thanks a bunch Inner – for giving me that wake up call! I can't bear to think of what I would have done if you didn't! But this genjutsu is too strong – it's already a huge effort for me to just ignore what's going on in front of my eyes!_

Sakura chanced a glance at her former self with Sasuke, and her heart stopped.

"… Sasuke, I'll do anything – please! Stay! I'm begging you! Sasuke I – "

Sakura, (the real one) looked down at her feet, her eyes glazed over.

Then suddenly, and without thinking, Sakura's hand reached out for her weapons pouch, her fingers slipping inside and meeting the smooth surfaces of kunais. _Sasuke, thank you…_

A ghost of a smile reached Sakura's lips. _… for giving me this idea! …CHA!_

Sakura hesitated, but then remembered the image of Sasuke, moments from death when Orochimaru had attacked them both in the chunin exams with genjutsu, and how he had been so brave…

… Sakura just knew that she had to do it too. Just as she began to raise the kunai above her leg, Naruto's face flashed through her mind…

… Naruto too had done something like this, and much more. With these two images engraved in her mind, the images of the two people who inspired her most, Sakura tightened her grip around the kunai, and let it stab into her leg.

XXX

Sakura had felt like she was being thrust upwards through a tube that was too slim for her to fit through. All the air felt like it had been knocked out of her lungs for a moment, until she dimply recognised where she was.

Doubled over on her hands and knees, panting furiously in the middle of the training grounds.

She was back to reality, and she had not failed. Sakura had dispelled the genjutsu!

A surge of happiness bubbled into her body, momentarily distracting her from the pain of the wound on her leg.

Sakura winced, her right hand already glowing green and working on healing the wound. As she put on a brave face – just in case Tsunade was watching from the side-lines, she didn't want to look weak – her eyes landed on the remains of the water pool which had sucked her into it, and shown her it's terrible genjutsu, as it now sparkled innocently in the sunlight.

_Damn it – I have to try harder next time! If it weren't for Inner, I'd still be trapped in there! Luckily I remembered that pain was another way to bring me out of genjutsu…. but that's not such a good idea if I plan on taking on an army of strong ninja straight afterwards… what, with a wound like this?…_

Sakura forced herself back onto her feet once the wound had healed enough as to not reopen, and turned in the general direction of where she thought Tsunade was, but before she could even lay a glimpse of the Hokage…

Sakura's eyes widened.

A slivery darkness was engulfing her. It was choking her, with its sheer presence...

Tsunade was already launching into the fifth and final genjutsu!

_… NO! _

Sakura clenched her fists; _I refuse to let it intimidate me! Naruto! I must think of Naruto!_

And there his face came bright and clear as day in her mind.

Sakura suddenly realised that _had _to get through with this training, because she was going to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf village herself, and no matter what! She was doing this because it was her duty as a Leaf ninja, and because she wanted to do this for Naruto too! She was in debt to him – she owed him this!

Sakura now knew just how hard it must be for Naruto, still thinking that he had this burden to carry, that he needed to bring Sasuke back. With a twang of pain, Sakura wished she hadn't made him promise. She now knew full well what the full weight of responsibility felt like, but was glad – that she could help, and do _something, _instead of sitting around waiting, hoping against hope…

This training wouldn't be easy, but she needed to do it…

How significant this was had only just register to her now. The idea that this was real and not just a joke – that it would really be _her _who would be bringing Sasuke back seemed so unreal. She had told herself over and over again that she'd failed to bring him back the first time, that night he'd left – when she couldn't made him stay.

She had told herself that she was a failure, that only Naruto could do it, just not her. And she knew she was weak.

But now Sakura saw that this was her second chance, and that she _could _do it if only she tried. She couldn't seriously pass this off without giving it her best fight, now, could she?

_All you have to do is believe, Sakura!_

Without giving a moment's hesitation, Sakura did a flash of hand signs so much faster than she'd known she could do it.

"Kai!"

The darkness cleared away, and almost immediately following this, she whipped out a kunai, turned around, and like she'd expected, found Tsunade standing there, with her own kunai out, and about to strike Sakura off guard while she had still been in the darkness of the genjutsu.

Sakura grinned, as her kunai rattled against Tsunade's. "… And the fifth and final genjutsu. You used the fourth genjutsu to distract me, so that I'd be caught off guard when you created that void of darkness, and while I couldn't see, slip a kunai against my throat."

Tsunade seemed at loss for words. She looked genuinely surprised and impressed by her apprentice.

"Well, I have only one thing left to say to you now: The Will of Fire burns strongly in your eyes, Sakura. I knew you'd pull through – eventually."

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	4. Kakashi

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Three: Are you ready?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Several weeks had come and gone in the new hideout. Sasuke preferred the old base to this new one, for one simple fact. It held too many prisoners for Orochimaru's experiments. Sasuke couldn't pass through a single corridor without them begging him to set them free.

He usually opted to locking himself up inside one of the training chambers, and just got down to business. Through his hard efforts and perseverance, Sasuke had managed to surpass Itachi's complex kunai-throwing technique – by doing it with his advanced Chidori lightening, of course. He had a bit of an idea on how he'd take Itachi down. He wanted to do something special with the lightening, but didn't know what exactly just yet.

Sasuke took a deep breath. The moon was rising in the distance; he needed to get some rest – Orochimaru would be testing him on his abilities tomorrow. He had a feeling that it wasn't going to be anything simple.

XXXX

Several weeks had drawn to a close, and so had Sakura's training regime. She now looked at herself with a different light.

Pride, maybe?

Tsunade really hadn't been joking when she told Sakura that she'd teach her everything she knew. It was apparent that Tsunade hadn't been showing her full force on the first day of training, because on the weeks to come she had nailed down on Sakura like a bullet.

On many occasions, the training had pushed her into breaking point, but then Naruto's face would pop into her mind, and sometimes Sasuke's too.

Sakura depended on her Will of Fire a lot during training, and slowly, it came by as more of a challenge that she just needed to pass in order to reach the next level. No pain, no game right? Her potential had always been there really – it had just needed _something_ to fuel it, and a teacher to help her hone her skills.

Sakura knew that she was ready, and her efforts would be put the test in two day's time – when the mission commenced.

She also knew that she was still a bit rusty – there was only so far that she could improve within the short space of time that training had lasted – but at least she was better than before.

_I can cause mass destruction with my own two fists and a bit of chakra! Plus I know a few new jutsus – and my stamina and defence has improved a great deal! I think I just may be able to pull this off! CHA!_

Sakura shuddered as she recalled the grimy days of training, glad that it was over now.

_Flashback_

_Sakura forced herself from the ground with great effort, for the umpteenth time. Tsunade towered over her menacingly, not giving her the slightest glimmer of hope that she would soften up a pinch._

_But surprisingly, she did this time._

_"You're physically exhausted – we'll leave the spar there for now. How about we move on to learning a few new jutsus? Do you still have chakra left?"_

_Sakura nodded feebly, numb with weakness. She did still have chakra, but the problem was, would her arms be strong enough to make the hand seals? She was as battered as a target dummy! And all thanks to what she had come to recognise as Tsunade's Kick of Doom…_

_"I'm going to show you something called the Teleportation jutsu. You need to learn it, as it will be essential for when you take down Sasuke…"_

_Sakura supressed a shudder at the words 'take down', trying to convince herself that Tsunade was only talking about how Sasuke would be knocked out when she got the sleeping elixir into his possession._

_"…The Teleportation jutsu is similar to the Summoning jutsu since they have near exact hand seals to activate them, except it's more like a… reverse summoning, with the Teleportation jutsu." Tsunade went on, and Sakura listened very carefully, like the good student that she always was. _

_"… With a reverse summoning, instead of making something come out of your scroll, you make it go in. That's what you have to think about when you're using the Teleportation jutsu – except whatever you're sending away doesn't go into a scroll, but lands in a place. So first of all, I want you to image that you're the strongest shinobi in the universe, and that you have the power to teleport me anywhere," Said Tsunade seriously, a grave expression covering every corner of her face, and her arms crossed over her chest sternly._

_However ludicrous it seemed, Sakura tried to picture herself as the strongest shinobi alive. But for some reason, disoriented fragments of Naruto and Sasuke's faces kept getting in the way…_

_"Now that you've done that, Sakura, I want you to look at me and think, 'Since I am the greatest shinobi to ever live, I have all the chakra in the universe. I am going to use this chakra for my Teleportation jutsu,'." Said Tsunade, looking at Sakura hard in the eyes._

_"With every jutsu, you must have the will and a confidence in yourself. Without it, you are nothing. The first step of mastering any jutsu, is believing. Believing that you can do it. So with that in mind, I want you to imagine that you're sending me to Suna. Picture the route you yourself would have to take if you were going there yourself. Picture moving through the vast deserts – except that your moving at high speed. As fast as you possibly can. But don't miss out one single footstep through the journey. Imagine it very carefully, step by step."_

_Sakura was doing everything as Tsunade had said. It was quite hard remembering every single footstep she'd taken when she'd last travelled to Suna, and frowned._

_"But Tsunade-sama, isn't that asking for a lot? What if I wanted to send you somewhere that I couldn't remember the route to very well? Oh no – How can I teleport Sasuke if I don't remember the route that I'd taken from Konoha to Orochimaru's hideo –"_

_"Sakura!" Said Tsunade sharply. "You haven't let me finish now, have you?"_

_Tsunade sighed. "As you should already know, every jutsu comes with its own weakness. With the Teleportation jutsu, if you can't remember the route very well, then it will still teleport your object to its destination, except with a demand for a lot more of your chakra."_

_Sakura nodded with understanding. That wasn't too bad now, was it? _

_"… Now as I was saying; you must plan out the route to the destination that you want the object you're sending to, to go to – mentally, and not missing out any detail. This can be a crucial stage between sending the object to Suna, or Amegakure. So be careful not to make any mistakes."_

_Sakura nodded, absorbing every word of Tsunade's teaching._

_"Once you've mastered that stage of the Teleportation jutsu, you're more or less there. All that's left is learning the hand seals and the chakra distribution needed. Understood?"_

_"Hai!"_

_Tsunade was about to show Sakura the hand seals for the jutsu, when she noticed how colourless and anxious she looked;_

_"And remember, Sakura: you're the most powerful shinobi alive, now, aren't you? You can do anything."_

XXX

Only now, Sakura had the mission to worry about; would she really be prepared to face Sasuke again? Sakura shoved those thoughts aside. She'd deal with it when it was happening. No point in getting worked up for the next two days before the mission.

_You better start packing your stuff so it's ready… then do some training and go to the Hokage tower to collect the mission details…_

Sakura distracted herself by searching around for all her stuff; kunais, shuriken, senbon, explosives, wire, scrolls, antidotes, soldier pills, bandages, seals, her gloves…

After getting everything into her pouch, Sakura went out to the training grounds. The morning air was nice and cool, she welcomed it and took big breaths for no other reason than to cherish its freshness.

When she finally reached the security to the training grounds, she first exercised her chakra by walking up and down the tallest tree, pausing at the top while up-side down, suspended in the air, then finally jumped down.

Next she gathered chakra to her fists and took out the target dummies to her left and did the same to the ones on her right. She gritted her teeth together when she accidently put too much chakra into one of her fists.

_… You can't let this keep on slipping! Tighten up your chakra control – not too much, and not too little! Or else you won't have any left – and then what?_

Sakura was just about to start again and correct her mistakes when a hand caught her wrist before she could get the chance the strike the dummy;

Kakashi.

Sakura's eyes widened. She hadn't seen him for… well, two years! But he looked just the same as he always did – silvery hair, the mysterious mask concealing most of his face. Same perverted book.

"Kakashi-sensei! Why are you… I mean – "

Kakashi raised a hand to stop her. "—Sakura, that's enough. And my, you've grown."

Blushing, Sakura's looked down. Had she grown? Well, maybe just a bit…

"It's been a while; how've you been getting on?"

Sakura looked at him funny. It's been two years… And that's all he has to say to her? Not even an explanation for his sudden disappearance in her life?

_… Oh, of course not. _Thought Sakura sardonically.

She felt the anger boiling inside of her, and said tightly. "Oh, not much, really."

She refused to look at him. Who did he think he was, anyway?

Kakashi seemed to sense Sakura's bad mood.

"Hn, that's good to hear, I guess. Well I don't want to intrude on your training, but how about a spar for old time's sake? A test, let's say, on how much you've improved over the years?"

Now Sakura was listening. She couldn't help but revel on the anticipation that was rising up inside her at the implication of the challenge. Kakashi would be a suitable opponent.

"Ready when you are," Said Sakura with a small smile. "So what are the rules for the test then? Will there be bells?"

Kakashi seemed to consider this. "Bells? Well, I had been planning on saving that for when Naruto returned, so that you two could challenge me together. But since things have taken a… different turn of events with this mission of yours – no, I guess not."

Then Kakashi continued and Sakura could vaguely hear the smirk in his voice. "But I'm sure you'd be too good for that anyway. How about a light spar, to get you going before your mission?"

Sakura nodded, and in that moment, Kakashi snapped his book shut. "The spar begins – _now_."

Sakura's eyes widened because the moment after the words had come out of his moth, Kakashi had vanished in a poof of smoke.

_Looks like it had been a clone all along… GAH! How did I not realise that the moment I set eyes on him? Guess I was just carried away – seeing Kakashi there after all this time took away all my sense! Well, there's no point in dwelling on the past! Gotta focus now!_

Sakura swerved around, half expecting the real Kakashi to be there behind her and about to attack, but was just met by the target dummy that she had been practicing on before Kakashi arrived.

_Where is he?_

Just as this thought entered Sakura's mind, an idea struck her.

_That's right… _

Sakura pulled up her gloves, and flexed her fingers quickly. Then, with a big intake of breath, she drew her arm back, and…

BOOM!

… had hammered it into the ground.

Sakura withdrew her glowing hand from the ground, as it rumbled and cracked, giving way to the force if the blow, and creating a mighty earthquake. The ground soon turned into jelly, like a sudden ripple in a river.

She wasn't surprised to see Kakashi jumped out from amongst the rumbling earth, and pinned down on him without a pause. She charged toward him, flipping over the gaping cracks in the ground, jumping on top of pieces of rock that had risen into the air, dogging, ducking, and all the while keeping her eye on her target.

Kakashi was apparently too shocked to move, and only did so to dodge the fist that came hurtling towards him.

_CHA! …I nearly had him for a second!_

Sakura was now just throwing fist, after fist, after fist at Kakashi, sometimes being inches from grazing his torso, sometimes nowhere near…

_Hm, Kakashi sure is good at dodging… he's evading my attacks like they're nothing!_

Sakura quickly changed tactic. There was no use in continuing to throw her fists at him. He was just too fast. It was better that she acted now and quickly, before he could and escape the close range combat that she had forced him into.

_Time for some magic, Sakura…_

Heeding Inner's words, Sakura made the hand seals for two solid Shadow clones and fast. Kakashi hadn't lifted his forehead protector and revealed his Sharingan yet, so he shouldn't have been able to read her hand signs.

A moment later, the solid clones appeared by either of Sakura's sides, and she let them continue to fight Kakashi, both clones already throwing two fists at a time to keep him engaged.

Sakura immediately pulled out her trump card – a summoning scroll. She slashed her thumb and smeared the blood onto the scroll, and made the hand seals before slamming her palm onto the scroll again.

In a poof of smoke, the Chakra Suppressing Seal appeared, and wasting no time, Sakura grabbed it.

Just as she started to make the hand seals to activate the Chakra Supressing seal, Sakura's eyes widened – a hand had clasped her wrist before she could do the last hand sign.

"The Chakra Supressing Seal. That's a nasty technique there, Sakura."

She braced herself for the worst, but Kakashi merely continued speaking.

"… how did you get your hands on that? Only the legendary Sanin are known to hold such seals."

Sakura stole a glance behind her, just to see Kakashi staring intently at the seal in her hands, his forehead protector up and Sharingan blazing.

"Uh… nowhere, really…" Said Sakura vaguely.

It was obvious that Kakashi wanted more specific information, but didn't say anything.

Instead, he let go of Sakura's wrist. "Well, that seal may come in handy – if you're dealing with a tough enemy and you know a good way to stick it onto them undetected."

Kakashi lowered his forehead protector, and tore his gaze away from the seal. Sakura let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding, and quickly sealed away the Chakra Supressing seal into her scroll.

_Damn… I didn't even get a chance to use it! Wait, what am I thinking? Of course Kakashi wouldn't let me get such a deadly seal near him – or he'd be finished in less than seconds!_

Sakura watched Kakashi who was absently looking up at the sky. "… Oh, look at the time; we better wrap it up here, Sakura. Well, you put up a great fight and held your own – I'm very proud, Haruno."

Sakura forced her cheeks not to burn, and opted to look up at the sky as well. "… You – you really think so? Kakashi-sensei?" She added, hopefully.

Kakashi looked back at Sakura and she was awfully certain that he was smiling at her now.

"Yes. You've got great stamina, and your ability to produce good attacks has taken on a huge improvement."

Sakura didn't know whether to hug him…

… or hit him.

_Geez, was I honestly _**that **_bad back then?_

Seeing this – Sakura being torn between hurting him or thanking him – Kakashi made a quick getaway.

"Sakura, I have something to tell you." Kakashi's tone had now changed to serious. "… It's about why I'm really here."

Sakura looked up, slightly taken aback. "Well, what's wrong?"

Kakashi answered immediately. "Sakura, are you… ready, for this mission? As in, are you prepared to face Sasuke again?"

A silence filled the training grounds. Was she ready? Was she really?

"I – I don't know…. Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura looked down, her fists clenching and unclenching. "… I had a feeling you'd really come here for something like that. You wanted to know if I could really do this."

Sakura sighed, eventually. "Well… I am ready. What I mean by that is, I know that I _can_ do it – look at me, I'm so much stronger! But that won't matter – whether I'm strong enough to do it or not if I can't even get myself to function normally when I do see him. That's my deepest problem… I could just freeze up and break down."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "It's good you said you were ready, Sakura. If you'd told me that you weren't ready, then you wouldn't be doing this mission, but me instead. Because I have the mission details right here, and I can either take it and leave for this mission myself, or I can hand it over to you to do. I know that's its harsh – but you _are_ strong, Sakura. On the inside and outside. If you believe, then you should be able to do this mission."

Kakashi sighed. "… being a ninja is tough, but this is your duty as well as a personal matter. I know what the feeling is like. You were close to Sasuke, and now having to go after him and bring him back like this against his will – it'll be hard. So remember this: you are not just doing this for yourself and the village,"

Kakashi's visible eye seemed to glisten. "… you are doing this for Naruto as well. He's got a huge weight on his hands as it is, and although he doesn't know about this mission, it will benefit him more than you can imagine if you do manage to bring Sasuke to Konoha."

Sakura nodded in determination. "I hear you, sensei. But Kakashi, do you really think that I can do it?"

Kakashi didn't say anything for a moment, and Sakura was afraid that he wouldn't answer, when he finally did. "… yes, I believe that you have the potential to do it now, Sakura. Tsunade has taught you well."

Sakura's fists unclenched. It was decided, now. Kakashi was already pulling out the mission details and handing them to her.

Sakura was ready to do this.

XXX

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Sasuke had been right in thinking that Orochimaru would do something unpleasant to test his skills. He had ordered Sasuke take down one hundred men – which he did, except without actually taking their lives, but instead immobilizing them.

But now, Sasuke was truly ready, for what he was about to do.

He opened his eyes, having finished his last mediation in the dark chamber, and activated Sharingan without another thought. Then, he stood up, his body but a shadow in the flickering candlelight.

Eyeing the targets and assessing their positions quickly, Sasuke pictured the many times that he'd seen Itachi throw the kunais when he had been younger, letting the memory be fresh in his mind as he and began.

CLANG! TWANG! BANG!

Sasuke had mimicked the technique perfectly. When the last kunai had hit its target, he made a cross-shape with his arms.

"Chidori Scream!"

The lightening shot out in all directions , and a semi-second later, all that could be heard in the chamber was the lightening screeching, and the shards of wood from the destroyed targets spraying everywhere in a violent shower.

Sasuke lifted up his head, and right in front of him stood Itachi. Without blinking he slashed his sword across the silhouette of his brother. Like a ghost, the top half of Itachi's body slid away, then the illusion disappeared altogether.

_I will get my revenge, Itachi…_

Sasuke walked out of the chamber. He was ready.

Standing silently outside the closed doors leading to Orochimaru's chamber, Sasuke raised his arm.

SCRRRRRRCH!

A beam of lightening issued from his hand, puncturing through the wood of the door, and hitting the flesh of Orochimaru's hand on the other side.

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**A/N: **Well it's pretty obvious what happens next, but if anyone wants to refresh their memory on what happens during the Sasuke VS Orochimaru fight, then the episode is 113 and the actual fight starts about halfway through the episode! ^^:D


	5. Booby Traps

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Four: Is this a Trap?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke lifted up his head as he sensed someone drawing near.

"Is that Kabuto?" Said Sasuke impassively. Kabuto immediately stepped out from the other side of the door. Sasuke wordless stepped across the blood stained floor, and walked right past Kabuto without offering another glance, and stepped out of the chamber that now held the remains of a far gone serpent. As Sasuke exited along the dimly lit corridors, he ignored Kabuto's incredulous expression, following him as he walked farther away.

"Just tell me one thing,"

Sasuke stopped, but didn't turn until Kabuto finally said, "…exactly which one are you?"

Sasuke smirked; "You tell me, Kabuto."

XXX

_To: Sakura Haruno_

_Mission details_

_Report to the Eastern village gate for your S-Rank mission in two day's time. You will be accompanied by Anbus no. 1334, 1356, and 1348. Bring any necessary supplies. You are not permitted to fail to turn up. If you do fail to turn up you will be questioned by the Hokage of the reason for your absence, and punishments for this may vary from torture/interrogation to execution. Your mission is neither a long-term nor short-term mission for reasons otherwise based on the decision of the Hokage. A direct message from the Hokage concerning this, states: "Sakura is to take however long that she may need to complete this mission – taking into consideration that there may be casualties during the mission, as well as fall backs due to an injured teammate needing time for healing. Thus, there will be no time limit or deadline. Now directly addressing you, Sakura, I want you to keep in mind that you'll want to have completed this mission before, or as Uzumaki Naruto returns to the Leaf village – which is in about two months. That is all. Oh, and good luck – remember everything that I have taught you."_

_You will be awarded 2,000 Yen for the completion of this mission. _

This felt more like a letter from Tsunade than anything else. Certainly not a mission briefing – in fact, it barely mentioned anything about the mission apart from when it commenced.

Sakura sighed.

She was now standing at the Eastern village gate, alongside two of the three Anbus who would be accompanying her. One of them was missing, so the ones that were here had to either be Anbus no. 1334 and1356, or 1348 and 1356, or 1334 and 1348!

_Geez, confusing!_

But Sakura had a feeling that it was the Anbu who had originally told her the mission details, the Anbu who had been such a bother when he came knocking at her door who was missing.

And sure enough, five minutes later it was his silhouette that came bounding towards them, and Sakura thought that she heard the two Anbus next to her swear under their breaths.

"I had to take a message to the Hokage! It couldn't wait!" He said, but the other two Anbus just shook their heads.

"Let's just get a move on – what we have feared for some time now may happen," He added in an undertone, so that Sakura couldn't hear.

"First, let's introduce ourselves," Said the spikey-haired Anbu closest to Sakura, who had dark skin, and muscles literally rippling through his arms. "… I'm Anbu no. 1356, just call me Shun. The one to your left is 1334, Aburi," He said, inclining his head to said Anbu. Aburi was wearing a cat mask, and had long black hair flowing down his back.

"… and finally, 1348, Juro."

Said ninja was still a bit out of breath from being late, and now that she looked at him, Sakura was quite sure that he was a Hyuuga. He just had that Hyuuga type of air to him.

Feeling that she was supposed to say something after the introduction, Sakura was about to open her mouth and thank them for accompanying her, when Aburi cut her off.

"Haruno, before we start this mission, you must know something." He said quietly, his long hair billowing in the wind.

"What? What's wrong?" Sakura couldn't hide the panic in her voice. What if they said that Orochimaru's hideout was just too powerful to break into? Weren't they strong enough to help her sneak in unnoticed, and get the sleeping elixir into Sasuke's possession? Didn't they want to accompany her on this mission anymore?

_… But they _**have **_to Sakura, so stop being stupid! Or else they'll have to face interrogation, and torture – or even death!_

Juro sighed. "Will you promise not to get angry?" He asked, and the way he said it seemed like he was struggling to bite down his pride at having to ask such a thing. "… we have a slight – problem, and you must understand that it was out of our hands from the start to prevent this from happening – _if_ it happens."

Sakura was confused. Why couldn't they just get to the point already? She was already anxious enough as it was!

"OK, I promise not to get mad. Now what is it?"

Shun stepped forward. "I will take it from here."

He turned to Sakura, and although she couldn't see his face, from the way of his tone, she could tell that he was gritting his teeth together.

"As you were being trained by the Hokage, it was our mission to pin-point the location of Orochimaru's hideout, following Yamanaka's lead." He turned away from Sakura. "We completed that mission successfully, but the problem is that the base we located was the base where Ino _had_ sighted Sasuke. We know its location and we can take you there, but there is no guarantee that Sasuke or Orochimaru will still be there. When we located it, it looked abandoned. Since our orders didn't permit us to go and check it out to see if they were still in there, we couldn't sneak inside and check things out."

Sakura didn't say anything. She gritted her teeth together, as if in pain. Then finally, she spoke up quietly; "… So you're telling me, that we could travel all the way over to that base you located, and find that no one's there? That they'd just left and moved on to another base? There's no real guarantee?"

The three Anbus shook their heads and looked down, as if in apology. As much as Sakura would have loved to see three actual Anbu bowing before her like this, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the moment.

_GAH! I can't believe this! All that training could've been for nothing! I was right all along! I should never have gotten my hopes up... _

Sakura sighed deeply. "There's no need for all that… head bowing. Its Ok, I understand."

_… Curse your easily forgiving attitude, Sakura! If it was me, well I – _

Sakura silenced Inner, and turned back to the Anbu. "… Well, it's not like there isn't any hope. They _could _still be there. I mean, it's not like Orochimaru's hideouts would look like they were bursting with life from the outside, so it could just be possible that you were wrong in thinking that it had been abandoned…"

But even as she said this, Sakura knew that her voice didn't sound very convincing, and by the looks of it, the Anbus were still in doubt.

Aburi nodded. "I admire you optimism, Haruno. But the only problem is, we fear that when Ino swapped minds with the owl at Orochimaru's hideout, a secret alarm was set off – or one of the inhabitants inside there sensed a disturbance. It just seems unlikely that a jutsu being used like that right under Orochimaru's nose would go by unnoticed, so please understa – "

Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

"IM NOT GIVING UP!" She suddenly burst out. "Sasuke… was my former teammate! I have to do this – I can't fail again, like I did last time. So just take me to this damn base, and let's find out first! I can't stand just giving up, alright?"

The Anbus seemed taken aback, as anyone would be if a pink-haired kunoichi exploded on them.

After a silence, Juro finally spoke up; "Very well, but you have been warned, Miss Haruno."

"Oh, and for the love of peace_ – just call me Sakura!"_ She said heatedly, still in a fiery mood.

Shun and Aburi snickered, but Juro said nothing despite the fact that by the looks of it, he didn't like being shouted at very much.

XXX

The Tea village was a two day journey from Konoha. After Sakura's outburst, the Anbus made sure not to provoke her again, so the journey just passed in silence.

When the evening fell, they set up camp by a stream, and Sakura had been right in thinking that Juro was a Hyuuga. All three of the Anbus had taken their masks off to wash their faces – but in the safety of the darkness of night, of course – and she got a glimpse of his pupil-less eyes, only to be glared at straight after.

"Well, what are you looking at? Get some sleep!" He snapped, and Sakura was amused to find out from this, that he was still mad at her.

Just as Sakura turned away, Shun sighed under his breath and said quietly, "Juro is one to hold grudges. Just ignore him. But he's right – you should get some rest."

Sakura nodded and offered a small smile, thankful that someone was on her side, even after her embarrassing outburst – even Sakura couldn't ignore how rude she'd been to say what she'd said, and was reluctantly feeling a bit of regret for it.

Her sleep was tormented by old memories of Sasuke and Team 7 – would they ever be a team again? Would she really bring him back?

_… If we get to the right base, that is…_

So Sakura tried to clear her mind, because the odds were, she probably wouldn't even get to see Sasuke.

But as she stared up at the dark sky, still holding tinges of red from the evening sun, a completely new feeling that had nothing to do with the mission tormented her.

Something didn't feel right. It felt as if something big had happened. The night air had a strong feeling to it.

_I don't know… but it's as if – as if something big, like a legendary ninja has just died or something… hm, whatever, I need to clear my mind! I'm probably just imagining it!_

In the morning, they had to travel by boat along the stream next to where they'd camped, and Juro used a special ninjutsu to make the boat invisible to the naked eye. Only shinobi with a special kekkei genkai would be able to see us.

Sakura tried not to let the reality that in a few hours, she could either be seeing Sasuke again and having to take him down – or _not_ seeing Sasuke, and having to go back to the Leaf village empty handed.

_C'mon Sakura, you're better than that! Look! We're nearly there!_

Indeed, they were getting closer to the border of the Tea village. Juro called off the genjutsu and they all exited the boat.

It was a crisp afternoon, and the Tea village just seemed too innocent to hold the hideout of such a terrible criminal such as Orochimaru.

A veil of dread fell over Sakura as she considered that they could be in the wrong village.

"Shun, are you sure that this is really the Tea village? Maybe the river led us to the wrong place…"

Sakura could tell that Shun had raised an eyebrow under his mask. "This is definitely the Tea village, Sakura. Look,"

Then he pointed to a sign hanging from an Inn, saying, "Welcome to the Tea village, fellow shinobi and civilians alike!"

Sakura had never felt more mortified than this in her whole life. How had she missed such a ludicrously big hint like that?

"S-Sorry, about that… guess I'm not thinking straight – oh, never mind."

Sakura could feel Juro's pupil-less eyes on her, and pictured the smirk that was probably occupying his face, and blushed.

"Let's just go – well, you know the way." Muttered Sakura, avoiding eye contact.

They continued on the journey, not bothering to move at full-speed for several reasons. One, was that it was a nice day, and there was no point wasting it rushing around and not getting the chance to admire it. Two, they had two whole months to complete this mission anyway, or at least it was two months before Naruto returned, so seriously, why the hurry? Three, well, what would be the point in rushing to what could be a huge disappointment?

They were all pretty much convinced by now of what they'd find when they eventually got there – a deserted lair. It was like waiting for the surprise present when you already knew what it was, (**A/N: **and said present happens to be a disappointing one…) and so your trying not to dread how you're going to put on a happy face.

Or, to put it simply: You do something with a false hope, even though you know what's going to happen, and it isn't pretty.

In fact, Sakura was already preparing an apology speech for the Anbu – after all, they did warn her, but did she listen? All that she'd accomplished was wasting their ti –

Something was wrong.

"Where are we?" Sakura said breathlessly. They were no longer walking through a village bustling with life and smiling faces; instead, they were walking through a dead and very run down area, that felt more like a graveyard than anything else.

Left to right there were sinister looking thorn bushes; the moss bitten trees with their gnarled branches looked like they wanted to snatch you up and crush you into them. It was overall an intimidating and just plain _creepy _place.

But Sakura couldn't help herself. She turned to Juro and pointed. "I think that crow over there has something to settle with you. It's been staring your way for the past five minutes."

And it was true. It was almost like… no, that was ridiculous. It just couldn't be what she thought it was…

Could it?

Aburi seemed to be on the same page as Sakura, because he too seemed to be staring intently at the lone crow watching them closely, and Sakura could just picture the frown behind his mask.

"What do you think it wants?" Sakura said wearily. The crow was as still as a statue. With its eerie stillness and being perched next to a dark tree, it almost melted into the background, completely unnoticed by the untrained eye.

But things like these didn't slip past shinobi – although the bird put up a good camouflage. Sakura was surprised that she'd even spotted it…

Shun outstretched his arm. "Get back. Let us check this out."

Shun inclined his head to the other two Anbus, and they suddenly vanished; Sakura had forgotten just how elite and stealthy Anbu were up until now.

Then Aburi and Juro reappeared behind the bird. For a moment, Sakura could have sworn that crow had… smirked? But then Juro closed in on it – byakugan surely activated behind the mask – and with a jab of his chakra ignited fingers, the bird let out the loudest squawk that Sakura had ever been unfortunate enough to hear. It was the most horrible…. sound…. that…. she… felt… like… dying…

Sakura was jerked out of her trance when Shun shook her arm lightly. "Snap out of it! This is a sound genjutsu!"

To their relief, Aburi performed a fire ninjutsu which put the bird to silence.

"What a pesky rat!"

"It was worse than a rat alright!"

"If that didn't give away are positions to the enemy, then I don't know what else!"

"What bad luck… let's just carry on and hope we haven't been spotted."

"What, now we're being spied on?"

"Looks like it. Things like that only come out when we're getting close to criminal bases – maybe it hasn't been deserted after all?"

Juro sighed, and said carefully to Sakura, "It was a messenger crow. Only Orochimaru's followers in the Sound village have been known to use them. We should have realised it straight away – they enchant the birds to carry a strong genjutsu, that when provoked, will be realised. But recently, it has been said that these messenger crows are being used as spies. We had better be on our watch."

They tried to continue travelling normally, except when you get spied on by creepy crows, you tend to get a BIT uneasy.

"H-How long left?" Sakura stuttered, still in a state of shock. She had never felt the type of feeling that the bird had given her in that genjutsu since… well, since the Chunin exams when Orochimaru had attacked her and Sasuke. It had been so horrible, they'd had to see their own deaths, and it had been so terrifying that it had caused them to both throw up. If it hadn't been for Sasuke's quick thinki–

"Huh? What did you say again?" Said Sakura apologetically. She hadn't been listening.

"Miss Ha— Sakura, I said that we will be reaching the base in a couple of miles. Just focus on getting there first."

And so they did, traveling and traveling and traveling. The spooky terrain that they were going through sent shivers down Sakura's spine. It felt like she was in a horror movie, walking to her death. Even though it was broad daylight, this place just defeated all hope.

_… CHA! There's even a freakin' mist following us around! _

But Juro had been right. After walking another six miles in that godforsaken graveyard, they reached the borderline to flat grounds, sandy, bright, inviting, warm, welcomi –

"Watch out!" Someone yelled. Sakura looked up to see that it had been Juro who had yelled. He had just pushed Sakura forwards, and onto the ground. "… don't move." He whispered urgently.

"What's going o – " Before Sakura could finish the sentence, she instinctively heard the sound of kunais – maybe hundreds of them – clunking into trees overhead.

She heard someone groan in pain, and squinted through the dust that the kunais had made, just in time to see the silhouette of Aburi falling to the ground. Then to Sakura's amazement, he picked himself up again and stood up, barely able to support himself.

"You've got hurry on ahead without me! I'll cover you and hold the kunais off! Go! _NOW!"_

Sakura could feel Juro's weight beside her lifting; "Come on, you heard him – lets go."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Abandoning a comrade like this? "We can't just leave him! He'll get killed! We've got to try and save him – I'll heal him!"

Before Sakura could protest, Juro was already pulling her up, and then Shun appeared at her other side and started ushering them to follow.

"What you don't seem to understand, Sakura, is that the way Anbus operate is different to how normal shinobi do. We don't exist to make bonds and think of our comrades as anything more than allies – it is highly discouraged. If Aburi wasn't badly injured, then he wouldn't be scarifying himself like this – but since setting off the booby trap in the first place, he believes that it is his fault if this mission fails. So he is willing to give up his life, in order to ensure that was get past unharmed. So you can either take up the path he's made for us so that his death won't go in vain, or stay and get yourself killed as well."

Something in Sakura seemed to wake up and stir at these harsh words. He was right. So right that it made her feel sick to the core. This _was_ the way of shinobi, not just Anbu. It was going to be a shock when it sunk in later – but right now she needed to focus on getting through this.

Sakura nodded meekly, and let them lead her to safely; "We're close to the base now."

XXX

The base wasn't how she had been expecting it. Maybe her mind was just so clouded from the fact that they had all nearly been killed, and that Aburi was probably bleeding to death at this moment, and she wanted to do something, but knew that she couldn't even if she wanted to.

Maybe it was because the importance of this mission was flooding back to Sakura with such a force that she could barely stand upright.

"Are you alright? If it's because of Aburi, well, you'll get over it – I guess I just take it for granted because I'm so used to it…"

Sakura's mind was so far away, that she missed the sympathy in Juro's voice, and his words altogether.

In fact, Shun, Aburi and Juro all seemed so far away to her now.

Without knowing what she was doing, Sakura's feet were taking her towards the entrance of the hideout.

She distinctively heard the sound of a small _click _then, that was when it all went wrong.

Suddenly, Shun and Juro were shouting like mad, and then out of nowhere, this big wave of water came hurtling towards them. Sakura's mind still hadn't registered what was going on, until once again, she was being thrown to the ground, as she watched Shun and Juro hurling every type of jutsu that she'd seen – straight towards the wall of water.

The water then did something utterly horrible.

It split apart, then just like a snake the two water waves coiled themselves around Shun and Juro like hands, and pulled back before they could do anything more. The water dragged them back and out of sight, over the cliffs…

It went silent, and the only sounds were Sakura's surprisingly calm breaths – but that was before it hit her, and so hard that she could barely breathe anymore.

They were gone. She was alone. She had killed them. It was because of her that they were going to die drowning… and Aburi…

_N-No… how… HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS NOW! I'VE KILLED THEM! THERE'RE ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF ME, SO HOW CAN I SNEAK INTO THE HIDEOUT ALONE? ABURI IS SURELY DEAD BY NOW, SO HE CAN'T COME BACK AND HELP ME! SHUN AND JURO ARE PROBABLY DOWNING TO DEATH – BECAUSE OF ME, AND NOW – _

Sakura's mixture of just about every emotion that could possibly be felt was cut off, when Inner decided to dominated her mind. **_If you stop whining like a little brat, then I will tell you how you can do this. Firstly, Shun and Juro are qualified Anbu. If you're stupid enough to believe that a little bit of water like that is enough to take them down, then you are sadly mistaken. And Aburi – well, that's just an unfortunate case – you'll get over it. _**Inner coughed indignantly. **_Secondly,_****_in case you have forgotten: you were trained by the Hokage for several weeks on everything that she could feed you. So slipping through should be easy enough, even with a few booby traps added to the mix. And thirdly, think of your role model. What would he do? Give up and break down like this?_**

The harsh lecture from the logical side of her and then the determined face of Naruto seemed to stir something inside of Sakura again. She could feel the Will of Fire beginning to seep into her soul again.

"You're… You're right, Inner." Sakura's voice wobbled. The shock of it all was almost intoxicating her – but she had to, she _needed_ to pull herself together.

If they were all… dead, then she couldn't let their deaths go in vain. When she got back to Konoha – and with Sasuke – she'd see to their gravestones, and stop by to pray for them.

"OK, let's – let's go. It's now or never…" Murmured Sakura, as she assessed the hideout.

It was an innocent enough building from the outside, but she knew better. It was probably swarming with booby traps much like the ones that had taken Shun, Juro and Aburi. It was made out of cracking stone, and was covered all over by cobwebs. Spiders the size of hands were dangling from those webs, and the wooden door was slightly ajar, as if the last person to exit had been in a hurry and didn't bother to lock it…

… or, they were never planning on returning in the first place.

_Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?_

Sakura drew out her arm, and pulled the door open…

.

.

.

.

.

**A/N: **Now let me remind you this isn't strictly Canon, because Sasuke's killed Orochimaru sooner than he does in the Anime! Now I know Sakura can be a troublesome character to read about, especially in SasuSaku stories – so I can't blame some people if they were reluctant to even read this story in the first place! But if you get on the brink of smashing your computer because I make her do something so typical, PLEASE just bear in mind that it is for character development reasons, and that in later chapters she'll get better – as in, more mature! Although, if I say so myself, I think I've made Sakura quite tolerable in this story! Thank youuu for your support! ^^ :D


	6. Executioner's Blade

**A/N: **I got a bit of a wake-up call from my last reviewer to hurry up and update, so I have! lol!

…enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Five: The Executioner's blade for who?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Sasuke's P.O.V.

Sasuke had gotten Suigetsu, and convinced him to join him in the team of rogue ninjas that he was forming – Team Hebi.

The spreading of news regarding Orochimaru's death had gone on nicely, and Sasuke was quite satisfied after freeing all of the victims to Orochimaru's experiments in the hideout.

Now, he and Suigetsu were on their way to where they'd find Zabuza's _Kubikiribocho_ – the Executioner's blade.

XXX

The base was deserted. It was the wrong one – Orochimaru must have moved base, taking Sasuke along with him.

Sakura curse under her breath, as she thought stubbornly, _Not again! I'm not failing!_

She looked up at the afternoon sky, still holding tinges of red from the evening.

But if Sakura recalled correctly, only yesterday night while they'd camped, she had felt a strong surge that something big had happened… like a death, of someone indestructible… something really big….

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. _No… It just can't be!_

What if Tsunade was in trouble and needed her? What if the village was under attack – or Naruto…

Sakura frowned. _Get a grip! It wasn't like that… the strong feeling had nothing to do with the Leaf village... but what, then?_

Her three Anbu escorts were gone, because of two very fatal booby traps. It was apparent that the base was deserted.

Sakura decided that she might as well head back to the heart of the Tea village, rest overnight, clear her mind, then snoop around the village for any information, and see if she could relocate Orochimaru's new base herself. _Someone _had to know where it was, right?

XXX

A few hours later, after having to pass through the eerie graveyard-like terrain, Sakura was back in the heart of the Tea village.

And that was when she'd heard it; a merchant man as he spoke to a customer;

"…. haven't yer heard yet, my boy? Lord Orochimaru was killed yesterday, by none other than that _Uchiha_ _Sasuke_… never imagined the snake would get killed by his own pupil…"

Sakura didn't think as she gently yet firmly pushed the boy that the merchant was speaking to aside.

"Where is he?" Demanded Sakura urgently.

"Where's 'ho?"

"Sasuke! Where is he now? Did you see him?"

The merchant man seemed slightly taken back. Then his eyes hardened. "And why should I tell you if I did know, eh?"

"—Don't play weasel with me, old man!" Said Sakura dangerously, then she lowered her voice. "… tell me and I'll give you all the Yen that I can offer!"

_Some funny way of bribery you've got, Sakura! I'd just left hook him and force a kunai down his throat until he fessed u– _

"Yen? How much!" The merchant's eyes were glistering with anticipation.

Sakura was growing impatient. "That doesn't matter! Just tell me where you saw Sasuke first!"

Reluctantly, the old merchant sighed. "You must know this first, girl: It wasn't me who saw 'im, but one of my traders – a strange young man with round glasses and grey hair. Came fer some medical supplies – so I can't say that the information was completely reliable. But the boy said that I should spread the news, make sure it got around."

Sakura was just about to cut him off for taking too long to explain, when what he'd said registered in her mind. _Round glasses, grey hair – Kabuto? Could it be?_

"Do you know his name? What village had he been coming from when he came down here?"

The merchant rubbed his chin and frowned. "Didn't give me a name, but I do know that he'd been coming from the Sound village…"

_The Sound village! Of course! That's Orochimaru's personal village… it was founded to express the purpose of collecting ninja for his experiments…_

Sakura thoughts were broken when the merchant man suddenly spoke up again, and very seriously; "… But if it's Sasuke you're after, you won't find him there. Left right after he killed the snake. Had someone else tell me that they saw him somewhere in Kirigakure – with this other ninja."

Then his eyes hardened.

"… Anyway, what does a sweet girl like you have to do with such acquaintances?" He said sceptically, eyeing Sakura up and down. Then the old merchant muttered, "… kids these days – such a mystery, compared to me in my years of youth… hn." Then he turned away and didn't even give Sakura another backwards glance.

XXXXX

She had no money; she'd given it all to the old merchant after juicing out the information on Sasuke's location.

She would have to depend on getting this mission wrapped up – and fast. Nights in Inn's were expensive, and her only other option was to camp. _Ugh… no way!_

Kirigakure – the Hidden Mist village – was about one hour from here, so if she could just find Sasuke in time, and get him back to the Leaf…

**_Slow down, Sakura. You're rushing, and rushing leads to mistakes. Just clear your mind for a moment and go over your options. _**Chided Inner urgently. **_You have plenty of time, and although it'll be rough having to camp, you can do it on your own. Well, you're going to HAVE to, anyway – with the Anbu gone, it's just you…_**

Just you…

It sounded so hollow, and lonely...

Then suddenly, Sakura was angry. She clenched her fists. _Why the hell _**am**_ I alone? Where's Naruto? Where's Sasuke! We're supposed to be a team! A team sticks together! They don't split apart like this, and abandon each other – like Sasuke! Sasuke… I have to find him!_

Sakura ignored Inner as she screeched for Sakura to be rational, but Sakura's mind was so filled with strong emotion, that Inner's words couldn't reach her.

She was angry, because three ninja had to sacrifice their lives today, and because of her lousy mistakes. She should have made Sasuke stay the night he'd left, so that none of this would've happened.

XXX

Sakura had travelled for one hour straight, depending completely on the chakra in her feet. It was getting low now, due to when she'd travelled the previous day with the Anbu. But she didn't care about chakra. She'd just have to rely on her brute force and imperial strength.

_Almost there…_

The trees were parting to reveal a hidden village surrounded by lakes, and Sakura had to slow down to take a moment and assess how she'd get down there.

There was a small harbour just a mile away where she could collect a boat and cross over. Sakura jumped down from the high tree that had allowed her to see over such a distance, and ran at top speed.

In no time, Sakura reached the harbour, and cautiously entered one of the boats.

XXX

It was unsurprisingly misty, but that didn't bother Sakura. She just knitted her bows together in concentration as she tried to remember the route to the Mist. She hadn't been here since… well, since the mission with Team Seven when they'd fought Zabuza and Haku.

Sakura was so lost in her memories that she didn't even notice the figure swimming around in the water.

_… I think the Mist is some way to the right… or is that just going to take me somewhere else, and then I'd be lost?_

Sakura noncommittally moved the wooden row, still not noticing the figure that had now stopped swimming to watch at her curiously.

"Where've you come from, beautiful?" Came a playful male's voice.

Sakura turned with a start, to look over the still and empty surface of the water.

_What… was that?_

Sakura narrowed her eyes in concentration, trying to pick up any chakra signatures. Was it all in her imagination? Did she really hear someone say something?

"Over here! You're looking the wrong way!"

Sakura turned again, but with her whole body and came face to face with a male shinobi, who was half hidden in the water, and his bare muscular chest showing.

"What?" Sakura stammered. "How did you do that? I couldn't even pick up your chakra signature…" Sakura broke off to stare at him. _He sure must be a good ninja to have masked his presence so well…_

He had short silver hair, but not the same shade as Kakashi's; his was lighter, brighter in fact. He also had purple eyes, and was grinning widely so that she could get a full view of his pointy shark-teeth.

"So, who're you?" Sakura said curiously. What was a shinobi doing swimming in a lake like this?

He stopped smiling and looked at Sakura sharply. "None of your business!"

This hit a nerve. She could even feel the vein pulsing at her temple.

"Fine!"

Sakura couldn't help but feel heated. What did he think he was doing, delaying her like this? She picked up the row again and began to steer.

"Well, I have somewhere to go. If you don't mind," Sakura added, seeing as he was blocking her clear path across the lake. "could you move out of the way?"

The shinobi seemed to consider this. But then he frowned. "No. _I'm_ staying put. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to relax. Feel free to have a chat."

Then he lay on his back, his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes.

"_What?_" Sakura said sharply. "Just get out of the way! You don't understand – I'm on an urgent mission!"

_Hold on, why am I even bothering? I don't need to use this slow boat! I'm close enough to the Mist… I'll just walk across!_

And seeing as this strange shinobi wouldn't be moving anytime soon, she had no other choice. It would be meaningless to challenge him in battle as a way of getting past him. It would be a waste of chakra and time. Sasuke could be moving onto another village already. And then she'd have lost her only lead to his current whereabouts…

She had to catch him while he was still in the Mist.

Without waiting another moment, Sakura jumped out of the boat and landed on the lake's surface, supported by her chakra ignited feet.

If she proportioned her chakra well in an equal balance, it should last her for the remaining journey over the lake to the Mist.

Seeing that she was about to set off, and he'd have no other chance to mess around with someone for a while, the ninja spoke up.

"Just leaving that boat there? What if it got swept away? No one would be able to find it again…"

_What does that even mean? _Sakura narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on maintaining the balance of chakra at her feet, but not tearing her eyes off of the shinobi, now swimming around the lake leisurely.

Now that she looked at him closely, Sakura didn't think that she could see the rest of his body, not even a blurred mass of flesh, underneath the surface…

"… this is so much better than swimming in hollow puddles!" He chirped up, seeming genuinely at peril. "… they're just so small and suffocating – but when you have no other choi—"

Swimming in puddles? Was this some sort of dark humour joke that she wasn't catching?

Then Sakura's eyes widened in realisation. She didn't even think when she darted out to her left and braced herself. "Hang on… what _are_ you?"

She felt herself dropping her arms from the ready position. "Are you – are you even… human? I mean, how did you… what _happened_ to you?"

To her surprise, he grinned widely. "Nope, nope, and nope! And aren't you a clever kunoichi, eh? How did you know?"

Sakura shook her head. It was just a lucky guess coupled with intuition. He was a test subject, to Orochimaru's experiments, wasn't he? That would explain why she couldn't pick up any chakra signature earlier – but then again, how did she know that he wasn't just great at masking his chakra? Even so, it would make sense for Orochimaru's lab rats to have no chakra presence, or his base would be swarming with Leaf ninja, trying to break in and capture him for custody on his crimes.

"Just tell m – "

Before she could finish, he cut through her. "Alright, alright! Well, since you've asked so many times and if you must know – I just slipped out of Sasuke's constant watch to take a little dip here. Geez, can't take one teensy weensy break, can I? We spent hours searching this so-called village from top to bottom, trying to find my beloved blade!"

_I never even asked him what he was doing here! What gave him the idea that I was begging him to tell me anyway? Hold on… _**WHAT!**

" –repeat what you just said."

The water-shinobi spluttered indignantly. Then he raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Can't even remember a name, can you? I said that my is Suiget—"

"_Not that!_" Sakura nearly bellowed. "—tell me what you said even before that!"

Suigetsu looked puzzled. Or did he really? "Oh, you mean how I think you're gorgeous?"

**_He's just messing with you now!_**

Sakura shook her head, trying to deal with her impatience and impending anger. Then she said slowly, "tell me where Sasuke is, or I will have to use force."

Suigetsu was unfazed. "What a professional way to say ya want a fight! Well I'm in! Over here – catch me if you can!"

He was already moving away and out of sight, before Sakura could get the curse to escape her lips.

_Damn… _

She couldn't believe that she was doing this, but he was her only choice. He knew where Sasuke was.

It was five minutes later that she arrived on the other side of the lake, soaking with only sweat, and peering around slowly. No one was in sight, but that didn't mean that there wasn't something lurking in the shadows…

Sure enough, just as Sakura was about to move on, the silhouette of Suigetsu came bounding towards her, now fully dressed.

Sakura only remembered making a cross shaped shield with her arms and muttering, "Substitution no jutsu!" before the fist could connect with her gut.

She reappeared directly behind him, and hurled a fist of chakra at his head.

Then that's when she couldn't believe her eyes.

Instead of connecting with a skull, Sakura's fist went right through water. Yes, water. It was like she was running her fist through water.

Then when Sakura actually looked, her fist was indeed going through what had now turned into Suigetsu's head of water.

She jumped back and smirked. "So that's what Orochimaru did to you, huh?"

Suigetsu's head had now solidified and he nodded. "Yeah. That's what the bastard did to me. And my, what a powerful punch you've got there. Wasn't expecting such…"

" –brutality?" Sakura offered; she hated it when her opponents underestimated her, and that's what they got for it.

"Hm. I was really expecting the brutality of a teddy bear. And I was right. 'Cause that didn't even tickle!"

"_What?_" Sakura narrowed her eyes sharply. "then take this!"

She charged forward, her eyes pinned on him. Any flicker of movement and she'd strike instantly, without waiting. It was how Tsunade had taught her. Never wait for your opponent to make the first move. And if you do, try to predict their movements, so that you can come up with a counter attack in time.

Suigetsu wasn't even moving. He just watched her playfully as she drew nearer.

_What an arrogant littl–_

CLANG!

Sakura narrowed her eyes, as the kunai that she'd brought out to deflected the shuriken that Suigetsu had brought out at the last moment, clashed. She cursed as one of the shuriken slipped past her and sliced her shoulder.

Suddenly, Suigetsu's fist shot out at her, and Sakura stopped it with her left hand, encircling her fingers around the flesh of his fist.

She brought out her free right hand to get a clear punch in his gut, but he stopped her the way she had stopped him.

They were now both locked, both holding one hand around the other's, and having the other hand clasped inside the other's too.

It was now all about brute force. Who could overpower the other…

Suigetsu's massive muscles, rippled through his skin. Sakura gritted her teeth together…

It felt like forever had passed, when–

**_It's now or never, Sakura!_**

She smirked, as she shouted, "Release!" and vanished in a poof of smoke.

Suigetsu looked genuinely astonished, as he swerved around to see the real Sakura was standing right behind him.

"Take this! Hell yeah!"

XXX

"I would've beaten you if I'd had the Kubikiribocho blade!" Then adding in a mortified whimper, "now could you please remove this Chakra Suppressing Seal! You know I can't do anything with my chakra sealed away – you're being as bad as that bastard Orochimaru!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

They were still at the lake's end. Only a mile's walk from here, and over the Naruto bridge, they'd be at the heart of the Mist village.

Sakura had managed to wrap up the fight by supressing Suigetsu's chakra with the seal, and she had gotten around to healing the earlier shuriken wound on her shoulder.

"I'm full aware of what that seal can do. Now I'm only doing this to make sure that you can't pull something funny. You're taking me to Sasuke, remember."

Sakura shook her head. The fight had taken a lot out of her and she was exhausted. If she didn't know any better, she'd just drink the sleeping elixir now so that she could escape all this…

"Hey, what's the long face?" Suigetsu asked.

Sakura had turned around, and was about to answer Suigetsu, when her voice cut off.

It was then that she saw him.

No, it had been no a-spur-of-the-moment thing, where time stopped. Instead, it was like time had sped up, as he walked stoically towards them and with no desire to hurry.

Before she knew it, he was standing meters away from them. Suigetsu hadn't even noticed him yet.

Sakura could feel all the breath hitching in her throat, and her heat racing.

She was freezing up.

**_Sakura, this is dangerous – Sakura! Snap… out of it…_**

Inner's voice was already getting distant.

It was only until Suigetsu spoke up that she knew this was real.

"Sasuke!"

XXX

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu chirped up, as if Sasuke was a close acquaintance whom he hadn't seen for years; maybe it was just an act, to butter Sasuke up as a way of dodging the fact that he'd sneaked off.

Sakura was still too shocked to do anything, let alone speak. Sasuke's dark gaze, if not darker now, swept over them both briefly, and then landed on Suigetsu, glaring rather coldly. "What do you think your doi–

"—Oooo, you got the Executioner's blade! Well done Sasuke! Now pass it here to me!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything.

And then he spoke up, making her start. "Sakura,"

_Sasuke…_

Why weren't the words coming out? _Sasuke! Sasuke! Sa – _

"Sasuke,"

She couldn't believe how impassive and devoid of emotion that her voice sounded. How had this change come on?

Suigetsu looked back and throw at them both, clearly giving the wtf-they-actually-know-each-other look.

Sakura examined Sasuke up and down freely. He had changed. He was muscular, taller, definitely broad shouldered, had developed high cheekbones and he was darker. Indeed, he was much darker – she could feel the cold aura in his chakra.

His hate had sky rocketed over the three years.

Sakura's eyes narrowed, as she felt his gaze sweeping over her as well. How was she supposed to feel? Would the secret crush that she'd had on him when they were genin come back? Or would she just freeze up again and… and….

Sakura suddenly knew what she was feeling.

Anger.

XXXX

It was like a volcano had erupted around them, and the heat was suffocating them to the point that they didn't know what they were doing.

Without thinking – or caring, Sakura's fist shot out, widely aflame with all the chakra that she could pump into it. She was going to put her heart and soul into this fist, all her strength and chakra, all moulded together.

BOOM!

Sakura's eyes widened. Sasuke had grabbed her wrist and brushed it aside, so that it collided with a nearby boulder.

The boulder certainly stood no chance against Sakura's chakra, and cracked up immediately, sending bits of rock flying.

She was like a killing machine. Without pausing, Sakura jumped on top of the crumbling rock, and flipped down at Sasuke, imitating Tsunade's Kick of Doom. Sasuke easily caught her ankle as she came hammering down, and tightened his grip around it as he spun her around and then let go.

Sakura had never felt any more dizzier in her life. She blinked a few times and willed her mind to clear. She was still flying through the air, and Sasuke's and Suigetsu's silhouettes were but ants, getting smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller…

…and smaller.

**_…Do it now!_**

She made the seals, and closed her eyes, as she pictured herself standing right behind Sasuke.

"Teleportation jutsu!"

XXXX

Sakura gasped, trying not to struggle inside the grip around her neck. He had seen through her plan to teleport behind him, and countered.

"S-Sasuke!" She choked back weakly. "Come… Come back to Konoha!"

Sakura could feel him tense. And then he finally spoke up.

"If you help me initiate the downfall of Itachi, then I will return to Konoha."

_…W-What? Me help him? But… why! He never wanted my help when I begged him to let me the night he left… SO WHAT'S THE FREAKIN' DEAL?_

Sakura was about to say a very nasty word when something hit her, and she froze.

She had a mission. It was to bring Sasuke back, for Naruto, for the village… for herself. She had trained for so long under Tsunade for this moment. Where was the sleeping elixir? Where was the Chakra Suppressing Seal that Tsunade had given her during the a training session?

She could do this!

But… something that she'd known from the start, deep inside her gut told her that Sasuke had gotten much too strong now. She considered giving in, when—

**_Don't you even dare, Sakura! You've got to try!_**

It was decided. She would at least try. She had the Will of Fire. She could win.

"And what if I don't join you, huh?" Snarled Sakura.

"Then I'll kill you." Sasuke said simply from his position behind her. When she'd teleported to him, it turned out that he'd known that she'd go there all along, and was able to counter easily.

The harsh words slowly rebounded in Sakura's head: _Then I'll kill you._

This wasn't the Sasuke she knew. For some reason, Sakura felt even angrier. _Orochimaru… and Itachi… this is what they've made him…_

"Kill me? You think I'd let someone like you – a disgusting criminal – just _kill me?_ Please!" Hissed Sakura.

She pulled up her gloves and flexed her fingers. "Come at me with your best shot!"

But she didn't wait. She slammed her fist into the ground, and Sasuke was forced to jump back a few feet. Immediately, she charged at him, pumping all the chakra that she could muster into her fists.

That was when Sakura realised it. She deeply _hated _Sasuke. What had he done, but hurt her and Naruto's feelings? The two people willing to give him a happy life, and be there together with him.

But of course, he was too blind to see this. He wanted his _revenge._

"If you're going to let this stupid goal of yours get in the way of your life, then FINE! SO BE IT!"

Sakura was close now. She was completely disregarding the fact that she wasn't supposed to put so much chakra into her fists – that the chakra distribution was dangerously high.

_ALL I WANT IS TO BEAT THE SENSE INTO HIM!_

Sakura's eyes widened. She had been merely inches from him, when he was suddenly out of her reach. She gasped, as her fist connected with a nearby boulder again.

The boulder automatically didn't stand a chance. The moment her fist grazed it, it cracked, and cracked, and cracked – and cracked.

BOOM!

"Impressive. But not good enough."

Sasuke was behind her again. For a moment, it was like there was only a thin sliver of air separating her from this world and the afterlife; then she remembered everything that Tsunade had taught her. She remembered Naruto, and she remembered that she had the Will of Fire.

"… _CHA!_"

Sakura swerved around and shot out her foot, making sure to add chakra to the soles of her feet.

But as she thought that it was going to hit him, his hand shot out of nowhere, and clasped her ankle. And that was when Sakura remembered that Sasuke had the Executioners' blade with him.

She could only watch helplessly, as he swung it over her shoulder, and it was inches from cutting through her head, when Suigetsu intervened, by putting himself in the path of the blade.

Sakura screamed, only to remember as a mass of water soaked her, that Suigetsu couldn't get hurt by physical attacks. He'd just turn into water.

Sakura was stunned for a moment, staring widely around her, missing how Sasuke was looking at her closely.

He just tried to kill her.

For some reason, those words seemed to hold the same significance as "rivers contain water".

_He's changed a lot… I guess it's now time for me to let go of those old memories of a person who clearly isn't here anymore…_

Sakura sighed, thankful that Suigetsu was standing beside her defensively.

She was at her limit now. She'd just have to give in to his deal for now, and think of a plan later.

XXXX

"Sasuke you bastard!" Suigetsu swore, "What did ya think you were doing, attacking a _kunoichi_ like that?"

Ordinarily, Sakura would've smacked him for thinking so lowly of kunoichi's. But she was too drained.

Unsurprisingly, Sasuke's expression held no remorse – or regret, as he ignored Suigetsu.

"Sakura," He said impassively. "You're stronger. And much more capable than you were before."

Sakura's head snapped up. He was praising her, wasn't he? But she remained silent, and unrelenting. She hadn't forgiven him yet. He had tried to kill her, and the shock from it was still chilling.

"You're now a member of team Hebi, and you will see through our goal to the end…"

"—_You're_ goal, to the end." Sakura corrected bitterly. Sasuke ignored this. "And then after that, you come back to Konoha, right?"

Again, he just didn't say anything.

_…Am I speaking Japanese or something?_

And Sasuke then did something completely unthinkable. Lifting the large Executioner's blade from his shoulder, he tossed it to her.

Sakura gasped, and had to spring out her hand onto the ground, so it supported her weight as she did a backwards flip.

What, was he attacking her again?

Sasuke remained indifferent, as he stared at the blade, nestled deeply in the ground.

"That's _Kubikiribocho_, Zabuza's Executioner's blade. Pull it out – it's now yours."

_….What?_

Sakura couldn't help herself. She suddenly laughed. Sasuke looked at her in puzzlement. "It's… just that – It's just that when we were genin and we fought Haku and Zabuza, I thought you were dead – after Haku had struck you with the needles… " Then Sakura's laughter died down. What was she thinking? How was _that_ funny?

It had just been something she'd remembered, when he brought up Zabuza's name. It reminded her of the battle – especially when they'd nearly lost Sasuke…

"Why me, though? Give it to Suigetsu." Said Sakura seriously. Suigetsu deserved it – and she owed him, for saving her life.

If Sakura was truly going to become a member of this revenge team – just until Sasuke got his revenge and returned to Konoha – then maybe, just maybe she should get along with her new teammates?

Sasuke shook his head. "No, it's yours. Now take it, I don't have time for this stupidness. You should just be honoured to have a weapon like this."

_Ok… no need to be rude!_

Sakura muttered a small "yes," carefully avoiding Suigetsu's saddened gaze.

Seeing Sasuke again really wasn't all that she had imagined it to be. Sure, he'd changed, but he held no interest in regards to how Naruto was doing now, or what she had become of herself. He was only interested in his revenge. Or would this change over time, as they became teammates again, and got closer?

Sakura's heart skipped a beat, as she realised with widened eyes, that she couldn't lift up the blade without having to use both arms, and mounting her feet into the ground.

"You're weakened. Suigetsu, carry it until she's ready, and has regained her strength." Ordered Sasuke, and he turned away.

Sakura was mortified at the very least that she couldn't lift it – after all, it was her strength that she took pride in most – and forced herself to ask what she'd wanted to ask him for a while.

Carefully, she said, "Sasuke… why are you allowing me into your team like this? Why… why would you even want me, let alone _need_ me? And why give me a blade that is clearly not for me?"

Sasuke's head snapped up, and his dark gaze penetrated her green eyes. "I remember your promise to me when I left the Leaf. I watched you fighting Suigetsu. You're stronger – you can fight, and hold your own – and you have great medical ninja skills. I need that, as well as you're ability to use chakra control efficiently." Sasuke paused. "You've... changed. You're different. I think that in time, you'll learn how to use Zabuza's blade. I'll teach you."

Sakura could barely believe her ears. Before she could mull over Sasuke's words, Suigetsu distrusted her thoughts.

"Does that me we're scrapping that useless Karin, then? She'd be such a pain – please tell me we're not getting her to join Hebi!"

It seemed that Suigetsu had already gotten over having his precious blade disowned from him. Although, it was unlike Suigetsu to let go of something he wanted just so easily…

Sasuke smirked. "Not with Sakura, we don't. Now let's go – we've another member to find."

.

.

.

.

.

**A/N: **Sorry that the fight with Sakura VS Suigetsu was so short, I really wanted to do more – but the chapter would've been too long otherwise and I had so much more that I needed to get in! Anyway, it's a bother, but review because I need to know how I can improve and what you think of the story! But thanks so much to all those people who've already given me their feedback – really appreciated it, and I hope you liked this chapter! ^^ :D


	7. Curse Seal

**Am I Stronger?**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Six: King of the Curse Seal

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

_Flash-forward:_

_The first thing that Sakura registered was the six-foot tall monster in front of her. She then remembered trying to clumsily hold up the Executioner's blade to use it as defensive barrier, drawing a line between her and her opponent. But the only problem that she had with the whole situation, was that her opponent possessed the Curse Seal and she was about to fight him completely alone; _

-Back to normal time-

XXX

One night had already passed since Sakura had been given no other choice but to join Team Hebi. She had spent that night thinking over what she had gotten herself into, and so it was no surprise when the following morning came by that she wished she _had_ slept, however impossible it seemed at the time.

Sakura rubbed her eyes to meet the charred murky-brown walls of the abandoned warehouse – they had taken temporary refuge in it for the night – and coughed immediately. The room was filled with offending particles of dust. Even the floor was covered in it.

A shudder ran up Sakura's spine when her feet hit the concrete warehouse floor, and a large spider scurried past, barely inches from brushing her toes.

As a hand ran through Sakura's messy pink hair, she heard Suigetsu's voice rising from downstairs;

"…travelling again already! Are you crazy Sasuke?! Why can't we go there tomorrow?"

Sakura stopped what she was doing and listened intently. Suigetsu let out another chain of complaints to which Sasuke had no comment for, until something else he yelled made Sakura narrow her eyes.

"…I'm glad we've scraped Karin and we're going for Jugo instead, but don't you think that we haven't even gotten to know _this_ new team member yet properly?"

_So they don't even trust me… well that'll make it harder for me when I want to give then a drink with the sleeping elixr in it, won't it?_

Sakura kneeled down and pressed her ear against the ground as listening in on the two male's conversation had become harder. Now Sasuke was talking but his voice was low.

"… go and bring her down here for me now Suigetsu. We're leaving in a few hours."

Not needing to wait for an order, Sakura made herself more presentable and waited for Suigetsu's knock to come, only to find that the white-haired ninja didn't believe in such courtesies.

"I'M COMIG IN SAKURA-CHAN!" The door immediately slammed open and Suigetsu bursts in with a hopeful, devious expression. "Where are you Sakura-chan! I have something to tell you!"

The medic-ninja stood up from the ground looking very irritated. "Couldn't you have knocked? What if I was getting dressed, eh?"

Suigetsu's smile widened. "That's the whole point! I was so over-joyed when Sasuke gave me the order to fetch you babe!"

Sakura's eye twitched. "I haven't got time to be the victim of your silly-tricks, idiot." Sakura then strode over to the door and went right past the white-haired ninja, who was still trying to get her attention, and made her way downstairs.

When Sasuke saw her approaching, he went to sit by the broken window ledge and automatically wiped the dusty surface so that he could peer out into the distance clearly.

"Sakura; if Suigetsu hasn't already told you, we're travelling to Orochimaru's Northern Hideout today in a few hours."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She knew why they were going there – obviously she'd over-heard it while Sasuke and Suigetsu were talking – but she still asked, just to be careful.

"And why are we going there?"

Sasuke remained indifferent. "We're going to get Jugo,"

"…he'll be the next team member, right?" Sakura clarified, unable to hide the bitterness from her voice as she watched Sasuke. She was in a period of grudgingness towards him for basically everything he'd done.

Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes. "There's something else I want you to know. The Northern Hideout is no ordinary hideout. Orochimaru used it for human experimentation—

"—and it houses all the uncontrollable monsters!" Suigetsu added abashedly as he emerged from the door. "C'mon! Now I'm all pumped up to go! Why wait any longer?"

Sakura turned to Sasuke expectantly. She wasn't objecting. They might as well get it over with.

"…a storm is about to arrive. The Hideout is a long way, so why would you want to make it any more difficult than it already is?"

Suigetsu seemed to see Sasuke's logic so he just shrugged and lazily turned away.

Sakura knitted her brows together. She really wanted to do something, but it was risky and there was a chance that Sasuke might catch onto her. But she had to try.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and spoke. "If we're not leaving for another few hours, then I'd like to go out and take a wash. I think there's a hot springs in this village, maybe a mile from here. And I'll… come back." Sakura added carefully.

It was the truth – mostly. She would come back to them, but not after having had a wash…

"Can I come?" Suigetsu asked hopefully.

Sakura didn't seem to see the need in reprimanding the white-haired ninja and just ignored him – to his dismay.

"…don't try to escape," Sasuke clarified, as he looked up at her with dark, resolute eyes for the first time that morning. "You know a storm is about to come, so don't be surprised if you have trouble walking down. We'll be leaving for the Northern Hideout later on, so keep an eye on the time too."

Sakura nodded obediently and left them.

The first few raindrops that started to fall hit Sakura with a miserable furry. Mud sloshed around her boots and swamped her feet. The wind was picking up and sending leaves in her face; it was like nature was using all its efforts to make this journey to the lake as difficult as possible for her.

The hot springs wouldn't really be the ideal place to go to for what Sakura was about to do, so obviously that was just a cover-story. Where she really needed to go was somewhere concealed and deserted, and the lake – which she'd spotted while Sasuke, Suigetsu and her had travelled to the abandoned warehouse the previous night – was just the right place.

Sakura ignored the harsh weather until the lake just barely came into view. If she hadn't known any better, she wouldn't have stopped walking and could have fallen right into its murky depths.

_Now where did I put that blank scroll…._

Sakura promptly lifted the Executioner's blade off from her back and onto the ground – being big and heavy, it hadn't severed her back any good while she'd moved.

She sighed and picked up the scroll.

_Dear Tsunade-sama,_

_I won't be back for a while to the Leaf from this mission to bring Sasuke back. The three Anbu escorts are gone. I believe Aburi is dead after he sacrificed his life to protect me, Shun and Juro and helped us to escape a booby trap. He was K.I.A. _

_When we got to Orochimaru's base, another booby trap presented itself to us and took away Shun and Juro. I haven't seen any of them since._

_Then something else happened. I found out that the base was deserted and moved on to look for any more leads. That's when I encountered Sasuke. We fought, but he overpowered me. We had to make a deal, or it was death for me and I'd have failed this mission. He told me if I joined his team until he got his revenge, he would return to the Leaf._

_Whether that was just a lie and he's simply using me as an asset to his team, I don't know. But I'm determined to bring him back to Konoha one way or another – I still have the Sleeping Elixir, but he knows about my Teleportation justu, so I'll have to find an alternative._

_I haven't betrayed you. My loyalties still lye with the Leaf village and being on Team Hebi will only be temporary. _

_I hope your all OK, and if I miss Naruto's arrival, give him my apology. _

_Don't write back. I must do this alone._

_Sakura_

Sakura summoned the messenger hawk and attached the scroll to it. She watched it fly away into the grey sky and closed her eyes.

She was so tired. Not sleeping all the previous night was finally catching up to her. She could feel drowsiness seeping up inside her head, and filling it with thoughts of slumber…

XXX

Sakura could have been asleep for years, if the clatter of rain against her skin hadn't roused her. She reluctantly lifted herself up from the ground and looked over at the lake.

**_You have a mission to do Sakura; and you can't back out now – don't forget that. _**Inner chided.

Sakura scowled as she made her way back to the warehouse. Why did things have to get so complicated?

Suigetsu was outside, swimming leisurely around in the puddles. He winked at her as she passed, but Sakura paid no notice.

Sasuke was inside, still at the window ledge, but this time meditating. His eyes snapped open the moment Sakura's boots hit the floor. He looked straight at her with piercing onyx eyes and her heart stopped.

What if he knew what she'd just done?

It was like his eyes were reading her like a book, and reaching right out into her soul. But to Sakura's utter relief, he merely turned away and stared back through the window;

"Now that your back, we might as well leave. The storm has lifted somewhat and it doesn't look like it can get any worse at this point anyway."

Sakura nodded mutely with an unforgiving air to her. She waited for Sasuke to continue, which he did with a mocking smirk. He looked straight at her;

"Don't try to use that blade yet, or take part in any battle. Leave to me and Suigetsu."

"Because?"

"Because you can't use the Kubikiribocho yet, or until I've taught you how to use it properly. You don't know what you're up against with Jugo either, so my only advice is to not interfere unless the situation asks for it." was Sasuke's sharp answer.

And since it made complete sense to Sakura who didn't fancy dying anytime soon, she said nothing more on the matter.

XXX

The Northern Hideout was just as dead-looking and lifeless as the other one of Orochimaru's hideouts that Sakura had seen. It had the same chilling air that unsettled her deeply. She tried to pretend that this wasn't bothering her as they silently walked inside, and tried to image how Sasuke had coped living in one of these places for so long.

"…teh. Sasuke there's a forked path ahead. Who'll go which way?" Suigetsu asked boredly.

Indeed, only five minutes upon entering the dull base and they had already reached a predicament.

Sakura idly ran her finger over the metal blade on her back as she waited for Sasuke's answer.

"…Suigetsu you go with Sakura to the right and I'll take the left. I can see you both with my Sharingan, so if you're in trouble just let out a lot of chakra so that I can pick up your presence. You know what we're after,"

Suigetsu and Sakura nodded, both desperately trying to hide their repulsion at Sasuke's pairing choice. They were both no longer on friendly terms as it seems.

Sakura found it nice to count to twenty over and over again, imagining happy things that she used to like as a child while her and Suigetsu walked. He was driving her mad.

"….oy Sakura-hime! What else do you see in me that you like?"

Sakura brandished her knuckles at Suigetsu as they walked past a wall that had mostly caved in. The wall looked like someone or something had hit it. What a powerful blow that must have been…

Sakura stopped when she realised that Suigetsu wasn't going forward. Why had he stopped moving?

"Suigetsu?"

He didn't answer. Sakura looked up and noticed that they had reached the end of the corridor. But in front of them, was a cage full of prisoners. Some looked like they were on the brink of death, starvation, disease, injury, and mental instability. It was so horrible that Sakura had to turn away.

_…How could anyone do something like this?_

She shook her head and forced her mind to clear. They had a task to do.

"Suigetsu it's clearly a dead end; so let's turn back alright?"

The white-haired ninja shook his head, and the frown that had nestled upon his features lifted up into a triumphant smirk. "…you go back without me and tell that bastard Sasuke it's a dead end. I'll catch up with you later."

It was then that Sakura noticed a strange look in Suigetsu's eyes. She didn't know whether it was sympathy towards the prisoners, or blood-lust and mischief. She just hoped it wasn't the latter.

When Sakura turned away, she didn't miss the pleads of the prisoners for Suigetsu to free them, and then his rising laughs. He sure was up to no good.

Sakura was finally able to be alone. She half-concentrated on where she was headed, as she passed the cracked and grizzled walls of the base.

_… the way that Sasuke looked at me when I returned from the lake was not good. Maybe he knew what I was really up to all along… but then why did he do nothing about it, or confront me? Am I being played or something? CHA!..._

Sakura was walking for what felt like hours with no regards to where she was going. But now that she was giving her surrounds more of her attention, it didn't make any sense.

Then it dawned on her. She was lost.

_Maybe I oughtta back-track somehow… _

But just as Sakura turned away, she saw it. A shadow, as it slipped away just out of her sight.

The medic-ninja started to panic. She clutched onto the handle of Zabuza's blade, and willed herself to calm down. _It could've been anything Sakura. Don't be silly, you're just getting paranoid._

But I didn't get any better. As Sakura continued through the unfamiliar passageways, there was no denying some of the simple ninja instincts that were screaming out that she was not alone. Finally, Sakura snapped.

"Just come out and show yourself! What're you doing, following me around? Get out of the shadows and fight me!"

There was a silence, followed by an odd creaking sound that filled the air. That as when Sakura heard the chains, slowly starting to drag across the concrete ground, scratching and tearing away at the stone gravel. She turned around, and the first thing that Sakura registered was the six-foot tall monster in front of her. She then remembered trying to clumsily hold up the Executioner's blade to use it as defensive barrier, drawing a line between her and her opponent. But the only problem that she had with the whole situation, was that her opponent possessed the Curse Seal and she was about to fight him completely alone;

It was quite evident that he had Orochimaru's Curse Seal. Sakura remembered seeing Sasuke brandished with it during the Chunin exams, and how it spread across his skin like an inky rash, in the same way that it was doing to this person in front of her.

Sakura wasn't even sure if he knew where he was, or that there was someone standing right in front of him. His eyes were lowered to the ground, as if it took too much effort to raise them anymore; that was when he started speaking, not knowing that there was someone really there.

"Please help me… I have to – to get out of here OR I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"

His dramatic change of personality shocked Sakura for a moment. Maybe this was the Curse Seal's doing? She narrowed her eyes and pulled up her gloves.

_I'll use the Chakra Supressing Seal on him. That oughtta do the trick…_

But just as Sakura's hand reached out to get the seal, the fiery-haired male in front of her snapped his head up.

"… I hate all this darkness, all I want is to leave… and—AND IF THE NEXT PERSON I SEE IS A WOMAN I'LL KILL HER!"

Sakura whipped forward Zabuza's blade to deflect the offending wing that came hammering down on her. She gritted her teeth together as she struggled to par with her opponent's strength. His whole body was transformed into what looked like the ultimate monster. Sakura was truly scared, but something about the light deep down in his eyes told her otherwise. He was not a complete monster. Losing control does not make you a monster.

"Hell yeah!" Sakura cried as she jumped back and pulled out the seal, Zabuza's blade still held up in defence. "Come right over here!"

Sakura watched as he raced forwards toward her, all the while shouting blood-hungry idiocies, saliva spitting out of his mouth…

…and then he vanished.

Sakura cursed. She looked all around her at the deserted corridor but he was nowhere to be seen.

When the air shift behind her, Sakura had no time to react as the fist came pummelling into her spine, knocking all the breath out of her and sending her forwards. She was unable to move her arms to break the fall and hit the ground with a loud _thud_.

"HAHAHAHA PAIN, SUFFERING, HURT… no… no, this is not what I want – DEATH! I NEED TO KILL!"

The prisoner's voice was all but a mass of vibrations ringing at Sakura's ears. She tried to keep the sharp intake of breaths coming, as she felt all the feeling begin to leave her body. Her eyes were losing a hopeless battle to stay open.

"Can't give…up!" Sakura gasped; she pushed both her arms forward, ignoring the searing pain travelling down her spine, and made the hand seals.

"Ultimate Healing no Jutsu!"

Immediately her body became engulfed in green healing chakra. It was a handy technique that Tsunade-sama had taught her during their training. It could even heal broken bones – which she was sure her spine really needed.

"….no, I can't continue on like this… I MUST KILL! KWAAAA!"

Sakura lay still and let the jutsu do its work, in exchange for some of her chakra. Her opponent was still too busy ravishing in a two sided personality uproar.

But she had to do something and quick, while her opponent thought that she was unable to move.

_Come on healing jutsu… hurry up!_

Sakura held her breath when the fiery-haired prisoner's shouts died down into silence. She looked up to see that he had stopped moving too. All he had to do was turn around and realise that she was not dead yet…

"Hey, what's going on here?" Came a familiar voice. For a second, Sakura thought it had been Naruto's. She didn't know why since this voice sounded like none other than Suigetsu's, but for some reason the blonde-haired ninja's face came into her mind at that moment in time. It must have just been her injuries making her imagine things…

The prisoner swerved around so fast that Sakura could not believe it. That was how he must have got her.

He rounded on Suigetsu who was staring on at the fiery-haired ninja somewhat apprehensively.

"Jugo!" Suigetsu acknowledged to said ninja, who appeared to not know what to make out of this new arrival. "… you've been a naughty boy, Jugo. I hope you haven't toyed with Sakura-chan too much, she'll be your new team member and a very feisty enemy to watch out for if you're not careful," Sakura could hear the smirk in Suigetsu's voice.

Suddenly, she felt the Executioner's blade lift up from her back.

_What… he's taking my weapon!_

Indeed, the white-haired ninja now held her Kubikiribocho over his shoulder lazily. "… you ready for a duel, Jugo my man?"

The prisoner – supposedly called Jugo, and the person who they were here for – roared in response and charged forward.

"I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREADS!"

Suigetsu's face lit up with a battle-hungry light as he swung Zabuza's blade down onto Jugo's shoulder. Jugo let out a shrill cry of pain, before stumbling backwards a few feet. His eyes darkened with a murderous lilt.

"YOU WILL PAY!"

The fighting carried on for an eternity. Sakura was helpless and could only lye and wait for them to both stop. She still couldn't feel her body at all, even though she was sure the healing jutsu was well into repairing her broken bones.

It was when Suigetsu's yells of anticipation and Jugo's screams of murder silenced that she realised something had happened. She raised her head only to see that both shinobi were as still as statues.

Two giant snakes bound them down to the ground. _Hiss, hiss, hiss…_

"… what do you think you are doing, Suigetsu?" Came a dark voice.

It was Sasuke. He was standing behind Sakura so that she couldn't see him, but she was sure he was there.

And that was when Sakura felt his hands lift her up by the arm, so that she could get onto her knees and then make her own way up from there. "…uh, thanks." Sakura muttered quietly, thankful that her spine had fully healed so that she could stand again too.

"… you shouldn't be fighting Jugo unless he outwardly attacks you and you know that. I told you to leave him to me. You're just aggravating him – how do you expect him to calm down for us now?"

Indeed, the fiery-haired prisoner was now growling angrily and trying to battle his way out of the snake's grip around him. "You… you managed to stop me, but – BUT ONLY KIMIMARU IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS!"

Sasuke stepped forward and placed his hand and Jugo's shoulder – who in turn stilled at the contact. "…what're you… why're you – I'LL KILL YOU!"

But Sasuke remained unfazed by the threat and merely closed his eyes. When he reopened them, his Sharingan was activated.

Then something truly extraordinary happened.

Jugo's body slowly began to change back. His wings retreated and his eyes lightened to their hew of brown. "You… you did it. You stopped me… I'm back to… to normal."

Suddenly, Jugo's head toppled forward and his shoulders sank. He was unconscious.

Sasuke turned to Suigetsu who was still bound by his snake. "We'll take Jugo back to the abandoned warehouse – I want you to carry him. We've completed this task,"

Sasuke then turned to Sakura. "You and Suigetsu leave now. I'll head back and free all the prisoners here. When you get back, heal Jugo and wait for me to return."

Sakura nodded and flexed her fingers. Her whole body was still quite battered and run down – plus her chakra reserves were low – but she'd just have to manage.

"Alright. But can I ask if… oh, forget it…"Sakura broke off. She had wanted to ask whether they'd be going after Itachi now that they had their last team member. But now was not the time.

Sasuke stared straight at her for a moment, before turning back to Suigetsu. The snake around the white-haired ninja immediately retreated.

"Well if that's all, let's get going,"

Sasuke disappeared, leaving Suigetsu, an unconscious Jugo and Sakura behind.

Sakura promptly snatched back her Executioner'_s_ blade from Suigetsu. He yelled, "Hey!", then pouted, to which Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I never gave you permission to use this, you idiot! Now carry Jugo, we've got to get him back before he dies!"

* * *

-Meanwhile-

"We will be accepting a new member into our ranks, Akatsuki," Said Pein, as he stood mysterious in front of his organisation; "… Hiroshi Shiyou has shown exceptional skill and most importantly, potential."

Itachi listened on mutely. So did Hidan, Deidara and Kisame, but with a curious air to them.

How strong was he? Would he be a good asset to the organisation? What were his methods in battle like? Could he hold his own?

Pein continued. "Hiroshi has passed the initiation test – which was to steal three important files from the Leaf village's Hokage, Senju Tsunade. Well done – you completed the task."

There was a silence; to which the other members had nothing left to say.

"….Now enter,"

* * *

**A/N: **I haven't updated for a while because I had some Writer's Block towards this chapter. Luckily I'm past it now, so updates _should_ be coming much quicker. I hope you all liked this chapter – as you can see, I've introduced my OC Akatsuki member. I also made modifications to the Jugo encounter, mainly because I really don't want to spend a whole eternity writing up fifty paragraphs describing each detail. Merry Christmas! ^^ :D


	8. Hiroshi Shiyou

**Am I Stronger?**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Seven: Emotion Binding no Jutsu!

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

"… three important files have been stolen from me. Very important files," Tsunade said quietly. "how could three files of such high importance get snatched away, right under my nose like this?"

Ibiki Morino nodded seriously, "Are you sure that it wasn't a joke by some of the newest Anbu members? If so, then I'd be more than delighted to straighten them out…"

Tsunade shook her head. "We can't assume our suspects so quickly. What if that's what the real culprit wants to happen? For us to turn our backs on each other?"

Shikaku Nara coughed sharply. "The Hokage is right. We mustn't jump to conclusions, or accuse each other. It won't do any good to start up fights with each other. Let's think this through rationally."

Ibiki scowled but said nothing. "… The best solution would be to strengthen our guard around such important files next time, and learn from this foolish mistake. Nothing like this would happen if I were in command." Danzo reprimanded coldly.

Tsunade turned her back on the three males and faced the village. She looked much tireder than usual and heightening the dosage of sake hadn't helped to deal with the stress. But really, how had she allowed such a sever thing to happen? What if even more important files got taken away?

But the disturbing thing was she that _had_ put up a heavy guard around those files. Not even some of the most experienced Anbu could've gotten past the multiple seals and genjutsus that she'd put up to protect those files. Only someone powerful, someone who possessed an unheard of technique…

"In order to find a solution to this, we much remain calm," Danzo supplied slyly, seeing Tsunade's distressed expression. "as I said, nothing of this calibre would _ever_ happen if I were in command, but as it happens, I am not. My only advice to you fifth Hokage, is this: Don't let it happen again, or I will force my command upon you and you will lose your power of flexibility to make your own decisions in this office."

With that said, Danzo bowed his head and excused himself from the room. Tsunade's fist released once the door slid shut, and Ibiki and Shikaku shook their heads.

"He's right. I shouldn't have let that happ—

"—don't be ridiculous, Tsunade-sama; how could you have predicted something like that would happen? Even kage's cannot prevent the existence of thieves." Ibiki growled. "Take my advice and forget it. My officers will put up extra security for you. And I'm sure Shikaku can do something about looking into some leads for this… issue. We'll get those scrolls back."

Tsunade smiled gratefully at both Ibiki and Shikaku and dismissed them. Once they had left, she returned to her own devices – or in other words – she returned to mulling over how anyone could have stolen those files from her. Just what were they plotting to do with them?

Tsunade sighed. _Those files held confidential information. The first file, held a list of every ninja above genin level in the Leaf; the second file, held all the data on the Leaf's allied villages; and let's not forget the third file, that held all the information on our economic welfare as well…_

Tsunade's frown deepened, as her thoughts strayed. _And what if Danzo really meant that threat? My grandfather… how much he'd be disappointed in me if I lost my command over his cherished village…_

Before Tsunade could puzzle over her predicament any further, she noticed a messenger hawk perched outside her window.

Immediately, she got up and let it inside; and attached to the bird's leg was a scroll.

_Hmm... this bird's come back from quite a journey…_ Tsunade noted, as she noticed the poor bird's dishevelled wings.

But as she unwrapped the scroll and scanned to the bottom, her eyes widened.

"It's… it's from Sakura!"

XXX

-two months later-

Sakura sighed as she looked around the village market. It was heavy with busy-looking civilians trying to get down to their own business. If only time could slow down so that she could look at each face individually and try to suss out who the victim they were after was. Sasuke had made everyone in Team Hebi memorise the face of the shinobi who supposedly held information on the Akatsuki. He would be somewhere here in this market right now.

They were all split up in other parts of this village – the Tsuki village – market, and the mission was to find and capture him, since Sasuke wanted to learn as much as he could about the Akatsuki, in order to initiate a plan to take down Itachi.

_I'm having no luck… maybe I should go and find the others and tell them that we're wasting our time here…_ Sakura thought dully, as she ignored a particular villager who was eyeing the large blade on her back nervously. After another moment of thought, Sakura finally acknowledged these petrified glances that the villagers were sending her left, right and centre. She offered them a small smile and moved on.

It was normal for the team to get looked upon like this. After all, they _were_ missing ninjas – except for Sakura, of course. The only thing was, Sasuke had made her put away her Leaf headband, to her utter reluctance – so it was only expected. Plus, she really _was_ much better with the Executioner's blade. Team Hebi had spent a lot of idle time resting and planning, so that had left Sakura plenty of opportunities to test out her skills.

As Sakura walked forward, paying little attention to the merchandise displayed on the stalls around her, she continued sorting through all the faces that passed her, up until something strange happened.

Sakura was just passing a tired-looking elderly woman, when she suddenly felt over-whelmed with anger. It didn't make any sense.

As this unusual spurt of anger increased, Sakura had no other choice but to slip out of the village market, and into a desolate forest – just in case she couldn't control her actions and ended up harming someone.

BANG!

Sakura's fist shot out to demolish a nearby tree. She had been so overwhelmed with anger that she felt there was nothing else she would rather do.

BANG!

BANG!

BA—

—just as Sakura's fist came out to strike once again, she stopped herself.

_I… I have to fight back… I'm being controlled!_

Sakura's arm jerked and shook like a rattle snake as she resisted.

"…I have the ability to control how you feel," Came a deep, alluring voice. It was clam and balanced, yet it held a chilling vibe.

Sakura looked up to see a male ninja about a few years older than her, standing a few metres away. Long black hair was tied up in a ponytail on his head and eyes the colour of green seaweed stared back at her.

"…pain," He said suddenly, and Sakura felt the anger leave her body, to be replaced by a searing pain. Her veins filled with fire and burned with a wild intensity.

"Stop…stop that!" Sakura gasped, doubling over. She tried fighting back the pain, but this time it didn't work as well as it did with the anger.

Sakura peered at him more closely. His face was blank – clearly a mask hiding his true expression – yet despite this, Sakura didn't think that he was enjoying torturing her…

_Just who is this person?.._

Sakura's eyes narrowed as an especially nasty bolt of pain entered her body. That was when she felt all the pain suddenly begin to release from her. She looked up in shock.

When he spoke, it was again in his mysteriously balanced voice. "I have used this technique – The Feeling Binder Jutsu – on countless victims. None have lasted as long as you have with pain, without falling unconscious."

Sakura didn't know what to say to this as she regained her composure.

"…the only weakness that my technique has, is that I in turn must also feel the emotion that I bring upon my opponent, and if I am weak against that particular emotion, I cannot hold it past you for long. Well done for coming so far, but let's see who's tougher with a different emotion…"

"I don't care about your stupid games!" Sakura growled, as she slowly picked herself up from the ground and gathered chakra to her fists—that were hidden behind her back. "So stop all your emotion manipulating tricks and fight me properly, if that's what you really want!"

He merely closed his green eyes and said nothing to the comment. "I have brought you out here to satisfy my boredom. You're just a puppet for me to pass my time,"

_Well this bastard won't be like that for long when I'm through with him…! CHA!_

However, as Sakura was about to lurch forward, a grip overtook her whole body. Immediately, the chakra around her hands extinguished, her legs wobbled before buckling underneath her, and she felt her eyelids falling shut.

_This is… is…_

"…weakness. You are feeling weakness." He stated indifferently. Sakura didn't know what to think. He had to be lying. _He_ wasn't toppling to the ground…

"If you are wondering why I am not suffering the same pathetic fate as you, then that is because _you _are weaker than me. I am strong. I can easily par up to this emotion,"

Sakura flinched as the words rebounded in her head harshly. She was weak.

She couldn't beat him alone either. Sakura slowly began to realise that she needed help – she needed her teammates. Or he'd kill her.

"Don't hurt her," Came another voice. It was cold and firm. It was Sasuke. He had come to her aid.

Sakura looked up to see that Sasuke had suddenly appeared in front of her. "…Sasuke, you've got to be careful! He controls your emotions!"

Sasuke turned his head back to look straight at Sakura. He had Sharingan activated.

"You're OK?" Sasuke checked. Sakura just nodded. "I'm fine now."

"… A newcomer. You are Itachi's brother, am I right?"

"How would you know?" Sasuke shot back sharply, a dark, haughty expression creeping up into his face.

"I joined the Akatsuki and met him only two months ago." Said the green-eyed shinobi in front of them wryly in response.

"If you are a member of the Akatsuki," Sasuke began, the tomoe of his Sharingan spinning – in order for him to tell whether the enemy in front of him was lying or not – "then how come you're not wearing the cloak?"

The dark-haired ninja simply sneered. "I don't have to wear that piece of trash in order to be a member. All need to have, is their ring," He stated disdainfully.

Suddenly, his eyes darkened. He was now serious again. "You have interrupted me, Uchiha Sasuke. Come and fight in the place of that foolish kunoichi!"

Sasuke made no objection and disappeared before Sakura's very eyes.

Sasuke was as fast as lightening. And his strikes with the Chidori were truly efficient, Sakura noted as well, as she watched them begin to battle.

Although, when Sakura watched closely, she also noticed that Sasuke would occasionally falter as if weakness was upholding his steps. Or he would occasionally flinch in pain. And even worse, he would hesitate before deciding to strike the dark-haired shinobi, as if he was being held in the grips of naivety.

"… just give up. This battle is hopeless against an opponent whom cannot par to my jutsu!"

Sakura shook her head firmly, sure that Sasuke would continue fighting until the end; except he didn't. He finally crouched by her side and said without sparing her a glance: "Sakura, we'll have to get away. I don't think I'm prepared to fight him."

Sasuke then stood up and turned back to the dark-haired shinobi. "What are you called?"

He didn't say anything. When he finally spoke up, it was with a nasty sneer, "Don't underestimate me. I know that you're trying to juice out some information on the Akatsuki. That's your goal, isn't it Sasuke?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "How would you know?" he growled, as a spurt of Chidori lightening engulfed his hand.

"It is obvious. We all know that the famous Uchiha Sasuke wants to get revenge from his infamous brother – the Uchiha clan's traitor – Itachi. And in order to do that, you'll have to find the Akatsuki base."

Sasuke remained unfazed surprisingly. "Just tell me your name,"

The dark-haired ninja sighed. "It is Hiroshi Shiyou. My name will come to public once I slaughter more people. But I shall spare you two shinobi out of mercy – let you continue your pathetic lives. Maybe one day we will meet again and you'll see what it truly means to feel my full wrath. I have a mission to return to,"

With that said, he turned away from them, and walked into nothingness. He literally walked into thin air. **(–– or in other words, he turned into thin air.)**

XXX

The encounter with the Akatsuki member Hiroshi Shiyou had left Sasuke in a bad mood. He'd teleported Sakura back to the Tuski village market without saying so much as: "…go and find Suigetsu and Jugo. I'll meet you all here later."

When Sakura reached Suigetsu, it was to find that he'd gotten into a fight with a band of rough-looking shinobi.

Breaking them part – by sending a generous clocking to each of their heads – Sakura then went on to get Jugo, even though it meant dragging the unconscious white-haired ninja all the way there with her. This had earned the pair of them many suspicious looks from the villagers.

"So Sasuke just said he'd meet us all here later?" Jugo asked Sakura tentatively when she explained to him the situation. She nodded. She was annoyed with Sasuke's constant mysterious behaviour. Why did he keep leaving?

_Yeah... couldn't even tell me where he was going!_

"Sasuke is such an idiot!" Suigetsu suddenly yelled. "Always leaving us waiting! I say we go against his orders for once and do what we want! We're not his dogs!"

Jugo shook his head in objection. "Sasuke is my new master. I won't go against him."

"And if you do, I'm sure he wouldn't mind chucking you outta the team and finding a better replacement," Sakura added in a murmur.

Suigetsu pouted at this, but said nothing until Sasuke did come back. The Uchiha avenger looked much calmer than he had after the encounter with Hiroshi – whom Sakura was still puzzled over.

"I located our new hideout. It's in a cave near a waterfall to the east." Sasuke said as his dark onyx eyes swept over the team. "I take it that none of you have spotted the shinobi who we were after in this market then?"

Suigetsu simply shrugged, muttering something about picking up a fight though. Then Jugo wrapped it up by apologising to Sasuke for failing, who just turned away.

The journey to their new hideout, however, took a rough turn. The sun was down but Sakura kept constantly thinking that there were shadows leaping through the trees, tailing them.

They were being followed.

_It's so odd… how come Sasuke or Jugo or even Suigetsu haven't noticed this? _Sakura wondered, as she saw that none of her teammates showed any signs of being aware of their followers. _Maybe I'm just getting paranoid… I mean, it could be anything. Just a fox or wild cat…_

"Hey! Are you ok?"

Sakura was dragged back to the harshness of reality when she felt a wet hand connect with her face. She squinted through tearful eyes to meet Suigetsu's smirk.

Sakura's eye twitched.

"… what did you just do?"

Suigetsu immediately shrunk back. "Uh – Uh you looked like you were daydreaming – but now you're not! Heh, heh, we'll be at the cave soon. Our new base, I mean!"

Grudgingly, Sakura let it go. "Fine. But touch me again and I'll hit you so hard, that you'll wish you were back in that base Orochimaru kept you in!"

Suspicions of being followed were soon forgotten, as Sakura's thoughts strayed to Naruto. Her heart stopped.

Two months had already passed. It dawned on her that Naruto must be back in the Leaf by now. He would've returned today.

Sakura didn't know why, but she felt tears prickling at her eyes. Instead of being there at the Leaf to welcome him back, she was here with Sasuke. Naruto was surely asking around for her, wondering where she was. Yet, by now she should've been back in the Leaf anyway – and with Sasuke. She should have brought him back by now. That _had_ been her mission. She just hoped that Tsunade had received her letter by now.

Sakura had even thought up countless strategies for taking Sasuke down when it came to it. She still had the Sleeping Elixir too…

**_Alright then, Sakura. _**Came Inner'sconfident voice in her head.

.

.

.

.

.

**_…It's decided. You're going to bring Uchiha Sasuke back to the Leaf one way or the other. And sooner than you think…_**

XXX

Sakura had been right in thinking that they were being followed. The three punks who Suigetsu had supposedly been originally fighting with when she got to him presented themselves right when the team had finally arrived at the cave.

"Kwaaaaa! Ahahaaha! We got ya now!" Yelled one of the punks, who had horribly bad breath and missing teeth.

The shortest one, a plump middle-aged man, ran at Sakura. She raised an eyebrow and stepped out of the way. He immediately went charging right into a rock.

BANG!

Sakura now realised why the others hadn't sensed these punks before now. They were civilians and had no chakra. It would've been impossible trying to sense them through their chakra signature. And being the child of two civilian parents, Sakura could sense the presence civilians a lot better than ninjas could.

Meanwhile, Suigetsu had already pinned down the other two punks.

"Now what should we do with them?" Suigetsu asked apprehensively. "I wouldn't mind finishing off what I'd started earlier…"

Sakura sighed. She really didn't have time for this interruption. It was late and she was tired.

Sasuke simply waved Suigetsu off. "Let them go. There's no need to waste your strength on scum,"

With a reluctant sound of protest, Suigetsu let them go – but Sakura didn't notice how he kneed them all in their soft spots first.

When they entered the cave, something didn't feel right. Sakura peered at the grim walls, which felt like they were going to close in on them. Suigetsu, Jugo and Sasuke also felt on edge upon entering as well.

"… Geez Sasuke! Didn't go out of your way to choose a less-intimidating cave, did you?" commented Suigetsu at once.

Sasuke continued walking forwards as if he hadn't heard anything. Then, he took a big intake of breath, and…

"Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!"

A fire was lit.

The cave was big enough for all of them to have plenty of space to themselves. But as Sakura went over to a dryer corner and chose that as her place, she noticed something that made her eyes widen.

At her feet were a cluster of skeleton heads, all of which were covered in explosive tags…

"Run! GET OUT NOW!" was all Sakura could think of saying. She'd known that there was something wrong about this cave ever since they set foot in it. The previous inhabitant here must've wanted to keep this cave out of bounds for anyone else.

BOOOOOOM!

At the last second, Sakura had managed to throw herself against the wall, which cracked and gave way to her strength. She had then fallen right out onto the other side, to hit soggy grass, and feel an agonizing burn on her leg. She didn't know whether the other's had made it out in time as well. It looked like she had been lucky to only receive a leg burn.

Surely Sasuke would've used the teleportation jutsu, and Suigetsu would've just turned into water, and Jugo would've transformed to protect himself. Right?

_…But only with a three-second warning? Well, they are strong shinobi… they should be OK._ However, even as Sakura thought this, she was still doubtful that they had made it out in time.

The Leaf-ninja turned around to look at the collapsed ruins of the once-standing cave. Smoke was issuing through the gaps of the cluster of jagged rocks. It was on fire from the inside. The whole expanse was unrecognizable. It was destroyed.

And Sakura needed to go back inside and check that none of her teammates were trapped under a rock, or bleeding to death. She had to get to them, and heal them fast.

As Sakura limped forward, she half expected to see Suigetsu jump up from behind her and tease her for worrying that they hadn't made it. Or see Sasuke emerge out of thin air with an irritated frown set upon his face, telling them that they were wrong to in come there at all. Or even Jugo, looking confused and ready to lose control any moment.

"Argh!" gasped Sakura, as she tripped on a stray rock and fell flat on her face.

_I'm pathetic… I couldn't save them – I could only save myself! What am I… a failure? How could I let this happen…_

Suddenly Sakura saw Naruto's face in her mind. Her eyes snapped back open again. It was like reality was flooding back in to her, and all those negative thoughts began to surface.

She had to focus on saving them.

Sakura continued limping forward until she reached the first cluster of disgruntled rocks.

"Just budge… a little….hell yeah!" Sakura cried, as she tried to move the rock aside. However, she was just too weak. She didn't think that she could summon chakra around her hands to help move it; and the injury on her leg was already draining her will to remain standing.

_….It must have something to do with the side-effects of Hiroshi's jutsu._ Sakura thought. The feeling of weakness had not completely left her.

It was like an Inner battle, Sakura realised, as she took a big breath. She had to be stronger.

Sakura brought out Zabuza's blade and wedged it into the ground, to that she could use it as a support to get up – she had already sagged down to the ground.

_Just need to be a little bit stronger… c'mon! The others lives' are in need for me to be strong now, alright! _She told herself.

However, it just wasn't working.

Sakura's eyes were beginning to flutter shut. She only managed to catch one final glimpse of the ruined cave, when she heard it;

"Er, who're you?" Came a new, female's voice, as she approached.

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**A/N: **Thank you to _ThatOneReviewer_ for that idea you gave me in your review, which I'm deciding to use for the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have a happy new year! ^^ :D


	9. The Great Manda

**Am I Stronger?**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its characters – all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything else Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I write and post stories free on as a hobby.

Chapter Eight: Karin and The Great Manda?

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

_Who be there…_

_A human sacrifice perhaps…_

_Finally we come at the end of the cross roads…_

_The conclusion that makes a huge impact…_

_It may last a second, a fleeting moment…_

_-Or an eternity-_

When Sakura opened her eyes, it was to meet the red ones of the person in front of her. It was a female ninja with red hair and unflattering glasses.

"Uh…" the red-eyed kunoichi began, and turned away, looking as if she was trying to gather the right words.

Sakura stood up and brushed herself down. She noticed that her leg-burn was now gone, and some of her strength had been restored.

"You healed me?" Sakura asked the red-eyed kunoichi carefully.

"Er, yeah." she answered serenely. Her head suddenly turned to the collapsed cave.

"Are you – I mean – have you seen a male shinobi called Sasuke Uchiha? I thought I sensed his chakra somewhere here, so I came down straight away. And it just suddenly disappe—

"What do you mean?" Sakura immediately cut in. Who was this kunoichi and how did she know Sasuke?

The red-head shrugged. "Well, he has dark raven-black hair. A handsome face – oh, so handsome! And a tall, muscular – sexy body—"

"Oh," Sakura interrupted with a blush. "Well thanks for healing me but I think you should go. Sasuke – I mean— this ninja you're after…"

Sakura stopped. Should she tell her the truth?

_But she's probably just a passing Sasuke fangirl. The look on her face right now… what I need is for her to leave, so that I can get back to the others in that collapsed cave…_

Sakura bit her lip. Maybe it would be for the best that she didn't tell her. Some of her strength was back, meaning she needed to go back into that collapsed cave and heal her teammates. Distractions like this were unneeded.

Suddenly, the red-eyed girl's face became serious, "His chakra! It's coming back – he's here – he's there I mean!" she squeaked, pointing to the collapsed cave. "Oh, Sasuke!"

"Uh… hold on! Just who are you?" Sakura queried.

The red-head scoffed at Sakura disdainfully. "The name's Karin,"

With that, Karin folded her arms and examined a nearby tree as if it interested her more than the baffled kunoichi in front of her.

Sakura hesitated a moment before offering her own name too. "I'm Sakura. Alright, uh, Karin, let's try to get all those rocks outta the way so that we can find Sasuke, and some others too,"

_Maybe she isn't too bad. She did heal me… although, not all my strength is back… that Hiroshi's jutsu has taken out a lot of my fight..._

However much distrust Sakura had first held towards Karin was quickly pushed aside; she wasn't about to turn down a helping hand.

The Karin girl just shrugged, and suddenly froze. She cursed under her breath;

"Damn… Suigetsu is somewhere in there too… and I think Jugo is as well…."

"Wh-What?" Sakura stammered indignantly, "I mean—how do you know?"

Karin turned a hard gaze at Sakura as she spoke. "I'm a sensory-type ninja. I can sense their chakra, obviously."

"Yes, but how do you know their names?" Sakura asked.

"How do _you_ know their names?" Karin challenged. It was apparent that they'd both reached something not too far from confusion.

However, allowing Karin to help soon paid off though. She wasn't as weak as she looked when it came to tearing away rocks in order to get to a certain Uchiha…

"Over here!" Karin suddenly hissed at Sakura. "I sense his chakra rising! He's definitely somewhere on this side!"

Sakura immediately went over to Karin's side and found that she was right. Even Sakura herself could sense Sasuke's chakra signature amongst all the rock. And it was getting bolder. Hopefully he'd be alright when they got to him. As for Jugo and Suigetsu… Sakura couldn't even feel a flicker of their presence yet…

It was around dawn time when they had penetrated enough rock to get side the cave. The air was cold and prickled Sakura's skin as she shakily heaved down the last of the rocks with Karin. Their hands were covered in scratches, although Karin didn't seem to mind. It was apparent that what mattered most was getting to Sasuke.

Just as they approached the cave's scattered entrance hole, something unexplainable caught Sakura's eye.

"Wh-What… oh, no…"

A mass of darkness met them inside the cave. What was more, was that the darkness was not simply darkness.

The darkness had been created, from the shadow of something huge.

_Hiss, hiss, hiss… _

_Who be there…_

_My meal perhaps…_

_Of a thousand human sacrifices…_

_This one shall better far surpass…_

_Hiss, hiss, hiss_

Something shifted mightily within the darkness.

It was a snake. No, not a small arm length snake—a giant snake.

In a given situation like this, Sakura would have run away – just as Karin had already done, the moment she sensed its massive chakra signature upon entering the cave. However, Sasuke, Jugo and Suigetsu, it seemed, were still inside this cave. Sakura had to get them out before the giant snake found them first…

"Sakura! Sakura!" Came Karin's voice outside. Sakura ignored her shouts as she listened intently within the darkness of the cave for the snake's position. She'd have to kill it.

_I, the great Manda…_

_Of not being summoning in so long…_

_Am in a period of salvation…_

_Where flesh shall soon be on my tongue…_

_Now, who dare summon me…_

_Hiss, hiss, hiss…_

"I did," Came another voice inside the cave. Sakura couldn't believe her ears. This voice, was…

….Sasuke's!

"…I've never liked snakes, Great Manda." Sasuke went on, from his unknown position in the solid darkness of the cave, "… and you being Orochimaru's snake summoning is a disadvantage. I'll put you to your rest along with your master,"

_Hiss, hiss, hiss…_

_Foolish boy!_

_Why, Orochimaru's death had been a surprise…_

_But you're foolish words of insult shall suffer consequence…_

_For I have in my mouth two of your comrades…_

_Whom will suffer the price…_

_The rubbery flesh of a ninja… I want more…._

Sakura backed against the wall of the cave. She had felt something scally brush against her foot. The moment the contact had been made, a sudden unearthly silence filled the cave.

_Why, another ninja is here, I see…_

_A female, a Leaf ninja…_

_More flesh for me…_

Sakura's heart was racing inside her chest like the rattle of a rattle snake. She closed her eyes and waited to be swallowed by Orochimaru's snake summoning, when she felt a familiar hand rest upon her shoulder.

Sakura gasped and nearly jumped. "Don't panic. It's Sasuke; you're safe as long as you don't move." Sakura felt the breath returning to her and nodded mutely.

"Manda can't see us, but I can see her with my Sharingan." Sasuke's arm suddenly left Sakura's shoulder. "I summoned her the moment you yelled for us to all get out of the cave. Suigetsu and Jugo are inside her. They're probably unconscious so they can't get out on their own."

Sakura said nothing – obviously—and mutely nodded again.

"I'm going to get you out of here, then I'll be sure to get them out of Manda as well,"

Sakura had no time to object. Sasuke's arms had already picked her up to carry her, and with his amazing speed, she was delivered to the entrance of the cave. "Get away from here and wait for us."

Sakura could still hear Manda hissing with furry from inside the cave. (_Hiss, hiss, hiss, I am the boss summon of the snakes… you dare to challenge me, mere Uchiha underling?_)

As Sakura turned away shakily—still in momentary shock—she wondered if Manda was right. Could Sasuke really defeat him alone?

**_Don't underestimate that Uchiha avenger, Sakura…_**

Suddenly, Sakura stopped in her tracks. She turned back to the cave which was barely in sight now, and clenched her fists. Her gaze hardened as she took a step forward, then another, until she was hot on the track back to the cave.

_What am I thinking, standing back and letting Sasuke do all the work?_

By the time Sakura got back to the cave entrance, a ghostly cloud of dust had accumulated and was encircling around it. Sakura could barely see inside the entrance hole through its thick ghostly layers.

Dare she enter?

_Hell yeah!_

Sakura took a cautious step inside and was immediately engulfed in the darkness of the cave again. Her heart raced and stared to speed up. What if Sasuke hadn't made it, and they were all already dead? It would've been her fault for listening to Sasuke and leaving, instead of assisting him.

But, as Sakura looked closer, she saw that there was no giant shadow to show the form of any giant creature there anymore.

"Sasuke?" Sakura managed. She couldn't believe it! He must've defeated Manda. When a summoning is defeated, it is sent back to its dimension and cannot return until it is summoned again. The Great Snake was nowhere in sight.

"…Uh, Suigetsu? Jugo, even?" Sakura whispered in horror. Why was she receiving no response?

Shakily, Sakura reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a match to light a candle. Once the flame was lit, she lifted it up and examined the scene before her.

XXX

Lying as lifeless as statues on the cave floor were Suigetsu and Jugo. They had cuts and bruises all over their bodies. They were lucky to have Sasuke save them and survive the cruel stomach of Manda. It seemed that they were unconscious, upon close inspect, but their injuries were not life threatening.

What was life threatening, however, was Sasuke. He had taken much more damage to his body, which was in a sitting position against the wall.

His shirt had been torn off completely, revealing his bare torso which harboured a deep wound, almost like a lightening slash.

Sakura knelt down next to him. It was just like the time when they were genin and Sasuke had fought Haku, and nearly died.

Suddenly, Sasuke cracked open an eye with great effort.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, you need to relax and let me repair your wounds. Manda is gone, you did it – you killed him and saved Suigetsu and Jugo,"

Sasuke ignored Sakura and weakly tried to stand up, only to fall back down again.

Sakura didn't think of what she was doing when she wrapped her arm around him. Just as she realised her actions, Sakura also noticed that Sasuke's wound was angrily spurting blood and decided that that was more important than being embarrassed.

Her hand ignited with green healing chakra and she was about to place it above the wound, when...

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" At that moment, Karin appeared out of nowhere and came bounding into the cave towards them, and kneeled at Sasuke's side, completely ignoring the lifeless bodies of Jugo and Suigetsu that were also there. Clearly Sasuke was the only one who deserved her attention…

"Sasuke-kun, what happened to you? Nearly all your chakra is gone! Let _me_ heal you!" Karin bellowed emotionally.

Karin tried to get to Sasuke and was about to push Sakura away when Sasuke spoke up to both of them directly.

"No, I can wait. Heal the other's first. You too, Sakura," He barely spoke above a whisper. It was like fighting off Manda had drained all his strength away…

"Sasuke, here, have some water first," Sakura said, as she lifted some water out of her pouch.

As Sakura's eyes were focused on the water, something stirred in her mind. What was her mind trying to tell her? It was trying to remind her of something… something important…

It was then that she remembered Tsunade's words to her, on the day that she'd given Sakura this mission:

_…I'm not asking you to track him down to the ends of the earth, or confront him head on and beat him, or anything like that. In fact, all that _**you**_ have to do, is very simple._ _They'll cover you as you sneak in, and get some poison – or a sleeping elixir – into Sasuke's possession. He'll be knocked out in seconds, and then you can teleport him back for custody._

Sakura couldn't believe it. The timing was perfect. Suigetsu and Jugo were still unconscious. Sasuke was too weak and drained of chakra to even activate Sharingan. He wouldn't know that what Sakura was giving him, was a sleeping elixir. She could really do it. He would be too weak to fight back…

Sakura knew that it was sneaky and she'd be betraying him, but this was what she'd been tasked to do for a very long time!

The only obstacle that she had to face, was Karin. She was watching them both very closely as she knelt at Suigetsu's side and was supposed to be healing him.

Sakura quickly pretended to be looking for the water in her pouch.

Although she was aware that Karin was just watching them like a hawk because she was jealous, it was still very risky. Sakura had no idea about her skills and abilities. She _could_ pose as a threat.

"Karin, could you come over here for a moment?" Sakura asked, unable to meet the sensory-kunoichi's gaze.

"What is it?" Karin snapped as she got up from Suigetsu and trudged over.

Sakura was still unable to meet her gaze. "This isn't usually how I play. I'm sorry to do this, but it's for the best,"

Without warning, Sakura's fist shot out at Karin, in order to knock her out.

Then something Sakura had not expected happened. Karin narrowly dodged the fist and brought out a kunai. She was quick.

"I knew all along that you were an imposter. But why did Sasuke-kun believe your pathetic act?"

Karin was the one to attack this time. She lunged forward – taking Sakura by complete surprise – and pinned her to the ground. The kunai pressed against Sakura's neck and she barely had time to grab Karin's wrist in order to stop her from delving the kunai any further, and killing her.

They struggled against each other's strength. Sakura soon found out that Karin was a tough kunoichi and had to use all her might to resist against the kunai that was slowly gaining down on her neck.

_There's no way I'm letting her beat me!..._

With a great heave, Sakura brought her legs in, and kicked out at Karin's stomach. The sensory-ninja immediately went flying back, but managed to catch herself in time.

Sakura pulled up her glove, her hand glowing a dangerous blue.

"You're skilled…" Sakura said, "but that won't stop me."

Karin smirked evilly. "Don't be so sure of yourself – you really think you're better than everyone? Don't let that make you underestimate me. It comes with consequence, Sakura."

At that moment, the Sakura that had been standing in front of Karin disappeared in a poof of smoke. Immediately Karin swerved around, but no one was standing behind her.

"… You're looking the wrong way!"

Above. The real Sakura, was above. And she came hammering down.

BOOOOOOM!

A cloud of dust filled the cave for a moment. When it cleared, a giant crater was revealed in the centre of the cave, in the middle of which, Karin lay, barely conscious.

"How… how did you do it?" she rasped quietly. Her red hair was sprawled in a messy heap on her head – much like a birds nest.

Sakura flexed her fingers as she stepped away. "It's something I learned from Tsunade-sama, called the Kick of Doom."

Without another second, Karin closed her eyes and slipped deep into the darkness of unconsciousness.

When Sakura turned away and returned to Sasuke, it was to find that he too had fallen unconscious.

_Looks like I didn't even need the sleeping elixir all along… CHA!_

The wound on his chest was much deeper than she'd thought. As Sakura looked at it more closely, she realised that her amateur medical ninja healing wouldn't be good enough to save him. He needed Tsunade's advanced medical skills which were much more effective than hers. He'd have to have an operation, much like the one Lee had after fighting Gaara in the Chunin exams.

It was life threatening. She had to get him back. And quick.

XXX

The Teleportation jutsu brought them just a mile away from the Leaf village. Sakura cursed herself for not imagining their destination clearly, and just hoped that Sasuke could hang on long enough.

He wasn't looking good though. His breathing was very shallow, and to Sakura's horror, it seemed that Manda's strike had been poisonous. Sasuke looked very pale…

However, just as Sakura pulled Sasuke's arm around her torso, and was about to half-drag him, she saw something. It looked like the silhouette of… of people.

A crowd of people. A crowd of people all running towards her – maybe a dozen or so people. And the person in front of them all, leading them her way, looked like Naruto. It wasn't the imaginary Naruto that she'd come to see in her mind's eye, driving her on and pushing her forward. But the real, solid, goofy blonde-haired knucklehead that she'd known all her genin years.

Sakura let out a gasp of shock. She could see the silhouette of Tsunade, and the silvery hair of Kakashi as well, and the straight blonde hair of Ino…

They had all come for her.

That's when Sakura realised what she had done. She had done it. She had really done it.

Without thinking, Sakura waved and cried out: "Quick! Someone help! He needs to get to the medical core!"

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She had brought Sasuke back to the Leaf.

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**A/N: THE END! **Yep that's the end of the fic. I'm proud of this story and I'm thankful to all who supported me. I'd just like to show my gratitude to the following reviewers of this fic for their feedback and the support that they gave me. THANK YOU: _Shadow Wolf, Anonymous, S.A _and _ThatOneReviewer_!

I did say I'd finish this fic no matter what – whether I had no reviews or hundreds. It wasn't an overly long story and so far I have considered making a squeal but my only solid answer to whether I will or not, is: maybe.

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL OF YOU! ^^ :D

Ja ne!

Yuuki


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